A Mind of Ice, A Heart of Fire
by Tazski
Summary: Rukia witnessed her family's mass murder 10 years ago, and is determined to get revenge on the Kurosaki and Ishida clans, who she believes is responsible. She decides to spy on the young heir, Kurosaki Ichigo, posing as a maid at his wealthy manor. She eventually gets to know him...but does she really hate him as much as she believes she does? IchiRuki, ByaHisa, bit of IshiHime.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys, I decided to start a new fanfic XD this one is also AU, set in a traditional village which is part of an empire run by the extremely rich Kurosaki and Ishida clans. Most of this story will be from Rukia's POV, but a lot of it may involve Ichigo's POV too.**

**Themes: Romance/Adventure.**

**Rated T for violence and explicit language.**

**THIS IS AN ICHIRUKI FANFIC. IF YOU ARE A RENRUKI FAN, STOP READING NOW! Or maybe not...if you wanna read it, go ahead. I ain't stopping ya. **

**You know, that button below the chapter in blue writing would really make my day. Click it. CLICK IT. Please? *puppy eyes* I do want to know what you guys think of my story...even though it's only one chapter at the moment. I'll give you cookies for subscribing and/or reviewing! TRIPLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES! Actually...I knew someone who's mother made quadruple chocolate Oreo cookies. I'll give you some of those. Please? PLEASE?**

**Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me. If it did...the anime wouldn't have ended, more people would be dead, and IchiRuki would be canon. SERIOUSLY. But don't worry, I'll let Orihme have Ishida. And Renji can have Jackie. And Hisana would NOT be dead, she and Byakuya would be happy with their 10 kids. SEE?**

**Anyway, please enjoy the story!**

**If I get a positive response, I may upload more :) actuallyI will...but it'll be faster if you guys review subscribe! Love ya all!**

**By the way, check out my other stuff- my first fanfic, 'Is seeing always believing?' It has 15 chapters already! And my poem/song/monologue (I don't really know what to call it...) about IchiRuki. I would love it if you could spare some time to review/subscribe to those too :)**

**Remember, your comments and thoughts are always valued! I CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU GUYS! O_o**

* * *

It all began 10 years ago. All of it. It's said that the childhood memories are the most cherished, most loved. But surely that only applies when your childhood is full of happiness, right? What happens when your childhood is destroyed? What happens when you have nothing to live for, nobody to love? And what happens when the love in your heart is replaced by something sinister that even you can't comprehend or fully understand?

Rukia had but one motive: revenge.

* * *

"_Mommy, what are we having for dinner tonight?" Rukia chirped, tugging on her mother's apron._

"_Beef with rice, sweetie," she replied, a warm smile on her face. Rukia giggled before running outside, barefoot._

"_At least put something on! You'll catch a cold!" her mother called out._

"_No I won't," she replied cheekily, before jumping into the snow._

_She stood in the snow, savouring the chill, and letting the snowflakes melt on the tip of her tongue._

"_Rukia!" shouted a thin voice, not dissimilar to her own. Her sister Hisana, a graceful young woman, sidled up to her, wrapping a shawl around Rukia's shoulders. "You know you'll get ill, if you don't stay warm, right?" Hisana spoke gently, hugging her younger sister close._

"_I won't get cold," Rukia pouted. It was true- Rukia had an unnaturally strong resistance to the cold- she barely felt it, and even stranger, she loved it. She hated hot, sticky summer days, where all she could do was pour water over her body all day. Her family often thought her crazy- she only ever had cold baths. She hated warmth in general._

_Hisana sighed. "You're so stubborn, aren't you? Won't you do this much for your lovely big sister?"_

"_No," Rukia grumbled, crossing her arms. "I wanna stay out here!" _

"_But only if you put on some shoes and keep this shawl on," Hisana replied._

"_No!"_

"_Hisana! Rukia!" came the call. "Both of you get inside!"_

_The two sisters grumbled synonymously. Why couldn't their mother let them play out? Rukia looked at the sky. It was a dark indigo, a sign that night was on its way, along with a fresh snowfall. Awesome._

"_He's here to see you, Hisana," their mother said as soon as they entered the elegant kitchen, as she tried to hide a grin._

"_Mom, don't tease me!" Hisana said reproachfully. "We're just friends..." _

"_Yeah, who gave you a heart-shaped pendant? Some friend he is. And a Kuchiki, no less!"_

"_..."_

"_Just admit you like him, Hisana. You do have a good taste in boys, though," she spoke, winking as she did so._

"_...I'm going to go find him. Where is he?"_

"_In the front room. Looks like he has another gift for you. Are friends always that extravagant with each other? But then again, he is a Kuchiki..."_

"_Mom! Anyway, I don't think his family even likes us..."_

"_Why would they take us in if they didn't like us? It was nice of them to let us live in their home, you know. Especially after..."_

"_Don't start again..."  
_

"_Sorry." Her mother was apologetic, a sad look on her face. Her husband had been killed by the leaders of the Ishida and Kurosaki clans some two years earlier, on the grounds of trespassing. But their father hadn't been a trespasser, had he?_

"_Mom, when will the food be ready?" Rukia asked, having listened to most of the conversation. Since she had only been five when her father had died, she didn't remember him much. A kind face and twinkling eyes. Nothing more._

"_Soon, honey. Why don't you go upstairs and play?"_

"_Okay," she replied happily, before running upstairs._

"_Hey," Hisana said._

"_Hi there," Byakuya replied, smiling slightly. Two years older than Hisana, at seventeen, he was incredibly handsome, his ponytail being held back with a pure white ribbon. He wore blue robes- that was the thing, he never wore ordinary clothes, being aristocracy- and his face has a cheeky look about him. _

"_What happened to your red ribbon?" Hisana asked, causing him to pout slightly._

"_That Yourichi stole it again," he muttered, getting angry. "Why can't she just leave my things alone?"_

"_Your grandfather's right, you really need to control your temper sometimes," Hisana chastised._

"_But I wasn't getting angry!" He protested._

"_You are now," she pointed out._

"_That's not the point...anyway; I have something for you,"_

"_Wow, again?"_

"_Do you want it or not?"_

"_Hold your horses...of course I do!"_

"_Close your eyes, then," he instructed. _

_She did, and felt the slip of something around her left wrist._

"_Okay, open."_

_Adorning her wrist was a beautiful silver bracelet with a snowflake dangling from it. She gasped in astonishment; he never failed to surprise her._

"_Oh wow..." her voice trailed off. "It's so beautiful..."_

"_You like it?"_

"_Of course I do! I-"_

_Her voice was cut off by a piercing yell coming from the direction of the kitchen, followed by an exclamation._

"_Nee-sama! NEE-SAMA!"_

_Hisana ran into the kitchen to find a commotion ensuing. Several masked men had captured her mother, and were holding a knife to her throat. _

"_Give him to me, or she gets it," the nearest one hissed. The two men both bore different insignias- the five-pointed star for the Ishida clan, and another one that wasn't clearly visible, but which Hisana knew belonged to the Kurosaki clan. The two reigning clans of Karakura. Why had they sent these people to her house?_

"_Nee-sama..." Rukia ran towards her sister, hugging her tightly whilst floods of tears fell from her face. "Nee-sama, what do they want? Why can't they leave us alone?"_

_Shaken from the incident, Hisana stood transfixed for a moment._

"_I don't know..." she whispered, her voice trembling._

"_You, girl," the other man pointed his knife at Hisana, his voice oily and disgusting. "Give him to me! I know he's in that room behind you," _

"_Who are you after?" She asked, her voice more confident than she felt._

"_Byakuya Kuchiki," the man snarled. "We want him dead."_

"_Well, you can't have him!" Rukia shouted. "You can't have my nii-sama!"_

"_You keep your mouth shut, little girl, or you get it too!"_

"_Rukia, be quiet," Hisana insisted. "I can deal with this myself."_

"_You won't give him to me then?"_

"_No." Hisana replied defiantly. "You can't have him!"_

"_What's going on?" came a voice._

_Byakuya strolled into the kitchen, startled by what was happening._

"_You, boy, come with us now,"_

"_Why?" He enquired coolly, in a manner that was unlike his own. _

"'_Cause we said so," the man spat. "There's someone who wants to see you- but he wants your dead body!"_

"_You didn't answer the question."_

"_Byakuya-sama...please..."_

"_Very well." He replied. "I'll come with you. Now will you release the woman?"_

"_Not so fast!" the first man shouted. Without preamble, he slashed the mother's neck, effectively killing her._

"_You didn't need to do that..." the other man said, his voice reproachful. "It'll be so much more the hassle for us now, thanks to you!"_

_The girl's mother reached out her hand, as if to grasp something, her eyes wide open._

"_Rukia...Hisana..." she choked out, before slumping to the floor, where a pool of blood had gathered around her._

"_Byakuya-sama." Hisana spoke, her voice even._

"_Hisana..."_

"_Byakuya-sama, take Rukia and leave. Now."_

"_Hisana, I can't-"_

"_I said take her and leave!"_

"_I can't leave you here though!"_

"_I'll handle this by myself, okay? NOW TAKE RUKIA AND LEAVE, FOR GOD'S SAKE!" she screamed, her voice cracking._

"_And...Keep her safe..." she whimpered._

_Byakuya knew he had no choice in the matter, so he scooped Rukia into his arms and ran outside as fast as he could._

"_You'll pay for this one, miss," the killer spoke. "You let him escape our clutches. So you're next,"_

"_I don't care!" Hisana shouted. She really didn't. As long as Byakuya and her sister were safe, there wasn't much she needed to care about. _

"_Let go of me!" Rukia yelled. Byakuya tightened his grip on her, as to not let her escape. What was he doing? He had quite literally left Hisana to die. Why on earth hadn't he taken them both?_

_He remained silent, infuriating her further. "I said LET ME GO!"_

"_No." was his curt answer._

_Rukia buried her head against his chest and began to cry._

* * *

"_Now that it's just us, we can finally get started, can't we?" Hisana challenged the men. There was a reason she had forced the two to escape- despite the fact that she knew that the men wouldn't make it out of the house alive. There was a ruthless side to her, one that she had never shown Rukia, and had rarely shown to Byakuya. She didn't want either of them to think that she was a monster. She hadn't taken all those martial arts classes for nothing._

_She circled them, urging them to come forwards, a fierce look in her eyes. She aimed a low punch at the first man, the killer, dodging him by millimetres. Getting the gist, the two exchanged blows, whilst the other man watched in curiosity. This girl was good._

_Hisana dodged a series of punches and kicks, one after the other, with incredible speed. She wasn't known as Karakura's 'Lightning Bolt' for nothing. Nobody was faster than her. She wasn't aiming to kill though, simply to incapacitate so that she could leave. After several minutes of exchanging blows, Hisana sensed that the men were getting tired, so therefore she decided to try a trick._

_She let a punch hit her, throwing her into the wall behind her. Thinking she was dead, the two men approached her, ready to haul her off and kill her. Quick as a flash, she picked up a knife- the one that the killer had dropped after killing her mother- and stabbed the men in the stomachs, one after the other, causing them to drop to the floor. She picked herself up, panting heavily. Now to warn everyone else. _

_Hisana ran upstairs, thinking that the majority of the people in the household would be resting. She opened the first door, only to let out a scream. The housemaid was dead on the floor, a large, unwelcoming beam protruding out of her chest. She ran from the room, and began to open the others, one after the other._

_It was the same story each time. In one room, her aunty had been pinned against the wall and stabbed- in the other, a brother of hers had been decapitated, and so on. But it wasn't she got to the final room that she fully began to comprehend the enormity of what had happened._

_Her family had been murdered._

_In the last room, lay Byakuya's grandfather- technically, he was her grandfather too, although they weren't related by blood. He hadn't been mutilated, like everyone else, but was lying on his bed, his eyes closed, and a serene, peaceful expression on his face. One would almost think he was sleeping. For a moment, that was what Hisana thought- until she saw a stain across the front of his pure white robes. He had been shot straight in the heart._

_Hisana collapsed to the floor, sobbing. Why? Why me? Why my family?_

"_Nee-sama!" came a voice._

_Now she was hearing things. Was she dying too? Was Rukia's voice calling her to the afterlife? Was Rukia even alive?_

"_Nee-sama!" insisted the voice. Rukia came bounding into the room, her short black hair flying out behind her._

"_They're going to burn down the place!" she yelled, snapping Hisana out of her reverie. "We gotta get out!"_

"_Rukia...why are you here? Where's Byakuya-sama?"_

"_He's outside, waiting for us. Come on!"_

"_Wait...how do you know all this? Who told you?"_

"_Nii-sama overheard a couple of people talking about it! They said to get rid of the evidence...Nee-sama, come ON!" she shrieked._

"_O...Okay," she stammered, still shaken. She scooped Rukia into her arms, and dodging a few suspicious men patrolling the house, she escaped outside to find Byakuya waiting for them._

"_It's safe here," he spoke, as soon as the two sisters approach._

"_Our house..." Hisana began._

"_There's nothing we can do," he said, his head bent low. "But what matters is that you teo are safe. Hisana, is that a wound?"_

"_I'm fine," she hesitated, pulling her sleeve down. The three sat and watched, as the first flame snaked into the black night sky._

_Rukia watched silently as her home, her childhood, and her livelihood began to burn into ashes._

"_Nee-sama, where are we going to live?" she whispered._

_It was Byakuya who answered. "We'll find somewhere," he assured the two. He promised himself that he would never abandon either of them. _

_Silently, Rukia made a vow. She vowed that she would take revenge on the people that had murdered her family and hurt her nee-sama and nii-sama. She vowed that she would never let herself, her sister, or her brother ever feel the same way again. She vowed to obliterate the Kurosaki clan and the Ishida clan entirely. She wouldn't leave a single one of them alive. _

* * *

_**10 years later**_

The snow descended onto the cobbled, cracked surface with amazing grace; each snowflake carved uniquely with intricate, complex curlicues, its natural, unadorned beauty invisible to the naked eye. Above, the sky was a dazzling, opulent white, stretching across the heavens relentlessly, not dissimilar to an eternal blanket of the purest white.

She breathed in deeply, taking slow, rhythm-type breaths, her dark eyes tightly shut. She tilted her head backwards at a slight angle, tasting the light, feathery snow on the tip of her tongue; her straight, ebony black hair curving itself beneath the base of her jaw, and tickling the back of her neck. She stood with her legs together, whilst her arms were raised slightly in an angelic pose, whilst poised as if she was about to launch into flight to the bright afternoon skies. A slim silhouette, she wore nothing more than a short-sleeved lime green dress, frayed at the knees, a pair of cut off leggings covered in dirt, and a pair of socks which were now soaked as her feet left imprints in the powdery, mystical snow.

The only piece of jewellery she wore was a thin, silver bracelet on her left hand, with a small snowflake charm dangling from it. Her older sister had given it to her on her seventeenth birthday, stating that it was part of her inheritance.

She closed her mouth and cracked her eyelids open, revealing eyes of the deepest midnight blue, with different hues of purple, violet and even the odd flash of crimson blended subtly, giving her a permanently mysterious, faraway look. She brought her slim hands down by her side, resting her chin against the hollow of her neck, before involuntarily fingering the snowflake charm.

'It's so beautiful,' she thought, not for the first time, a hint of a smile on her face, as she continued to lose herself in her daydreams, her breath tumbling out in a continuous white mist.

"_Rukia…"_

_Someone was saying her name…_

"_Rukia…"_

_Who was calling her? She didn't want to leave._

"_Rukia…!"_

_Couldn't they be silent for a minute? Clearly they didn't appreciate the meaning of contemplation._

"_RUKIA!"_

The feminine voice jolted her senses back to the present.

"What do you think you're _doing_? You'll freeze to death out there!" she chastised, a hint of worry colouring her voice.

Rukia turned around to see an older version of her stood behind, concern in her eyes. Hisana had the same pale skin, same deep eyes, and was petite, just like Rukia. However, her black hair was much longer, cascading in graceful waves down the slim arch of her back, with several long strands falling into her face much like her younger sisters. Her face was much softer and much kinder, as she took to smiling much more often unlike her younger sister, who was stubborn, at the most unfortunate of times. She was roughly two inches taller than Rukia- one of the few features that made one identifiable from the other.

"I was standing in the snow," Rukia replied sullenly, looking down at her feet, whilst she shifted uncomfortably.

"Well I can see that…" Hisana replied, grasping Rukia's arm lightly as if to lead her inside. "What if something had _happened-_"

"Nee-sama, I can take care of myself thanks," Rukia replied shortly. She looked at her surroundings, avoiding the hurt expression on her sister's face. They were stood in a small, bare room, which housed two rickety chairs and a table, a makeshift couch, a small cupboard of essentials, and a small window not far from the low door, which was complete with tatty grey curtains that hung limply, lifeless. The stairs, which overlooked the back room, led to a small bedroom complete with bathroom which was similarly sparsely furnished, and contained two beds, several small cabinets, and a balcony overlooking the front of the house, where the crossing bridge could be seen, that connected Karakura Village to the outer lands and beyond.

"Rukia, I didn't mean that," Hisana replied gently, snapping her out of her momentary reverie. "You should've taken my jumper instead,"

"I can't take that, you need it. Besides, we only have one jumper," Rukia mumbled guiltily.

Hisana smiled slightly, outing her hand on Rukia's shoulder, which felt cold to the touch. "Nothing matters more to me than protecting my little sister. If I won't care for her, who will?"

"I'm not _that_ much younger than you-"

"I'm eight years older, it's more than enough," Hisana spoke, a little sharper than she'd intended. Upon seeing the astonished look on Rukia's face, her face crumpled up, and before she knew it, tears were beginning to leak down her face.

"I'm such a horrible sister!" she cried, clearly upset. Feeling guiltier than ever, Rukia put her arms around her big sister, pulling her into a hug.

"You're the best sister ever," she whispered, before pulling away. Whilst Hisana dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, Rukia sensed that something was clearly wrong.

"Nee-sama, is everything okay?" Rukia asked concernedly.

"Yes…yes, everything is fine," she replied absentmindedly, her mind apparently far away. Unknowingly, she walked into the front of the home which housed the bakery, and began throwing loaves of bread into the clay oven.

"Nee-sama!" Rukia rushed forwards to help her sister, worried that she might accidently burn herself on the oven, especially as she had forgotten to put her gloves on. She _never_ forgot. Therefore, something was clearly wrong.

Judging by the sad look in her eyes, Rukia grasped the implications immediately. The tears, the absentmindedness, the general confusion…there was only one situation in which Hisana would behave in such a way. Especially as she usually kept her emotions in check and didn't let them interfere with her work.

Rukia smiled slyly, her eyebrow arched conspicuously.

"Hmm…" she began, leaning forwards where Hisana was chopped the loaves of bread with alarming speed. She put her hands on her hips, repressing giggles.

"Nii-sama didn't come today, did he?" Rukia questioned her, eyeing her with mock suspicion.

"Don't be silly," Hisana mumbled, giving away her feelings on the issue. Byakuya was away a lot, these days, she noticed. He always had 'official work' to do, and often couldn't make time to come home to see the two sisters. But she knew that she was a painful reminder of his past.

"Heeeeeeelllo!" came a loud voice, causing Rukia to cover her ears. He was so damn _loud_, she thought darkly to herself. A man almost 3 years older than herself came in, sporting a shock of crimson hair, and covered in tattoos. Often, people remarked that he was menacing, and took him to be some sort of bandit- but he wasn't that horrible, really. Atleast, she didn't think so...

"Could you be any louder?" Rukia hissed, as the customers glanced warily at him and back to her.

"Sure thing, Rukia!" he yelled.

"You're so freakin' obnoxious, you know that, Renji?" Rukia yelled back, kicking him hard.

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

"Language, Rukia!" Hisana called out.

"I wasn't swearing..."

"You're so _mean,_ Rukia..."

"And you're an _ass. _Come on, say sorry now," she said sweetly.

"Why should I apologize?"

"For being an idiot?"

"I can't help it, you know..."

"Come on now, Renji," she said innocently, pinching him hard.

"Stop hitting me!"

"Renji, I won't give you any chocolate donuts if you keep annoying my little sister like that," Hisana intervened, smiling.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!" He yelled, flailing his hands about. Rukia shook her head, and turned away.

"Is he retarded, or what?" came the whisper.

"He must be mentally unstable," said another.

The customers were pointing at Renji, whispering loudly behind back, infuriating Rukia.

"Renji is NOT retarded!" she yelled. "Asshole, yes. Idiot, yes. Moron, yes..."

"Nice to see you think so highly of me," Renji muttered under his breath.

"...the point is, how dare you say such things about my best friend?" she continued, her voice rising.

"Rukia, don't shout, you'll scare the customers away," Hisana whispered.

"Touchy much, Rukia?" Renji teased.

Unfortunately, that earned him a hard punch to the chest.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed.

"I was _defending_ you, and this is what I _get_?" she hissed through clenched teeth. "MORON!"

She turned to leave, but not before the bell tinkled once more, meaning another customer had arrived. Suddenly, everyone fell silent, leaving just the telltale hissing of baking food. A tall figure stood in the doorway, the sun behind him obscuring his identity in shadows.

"Can I get by?" he asked, his voice husky.

As he stepped into the cool interior of the shop, Rukia took in the man's appearance. He had longish, spiky orange hair, and he wore robes of midnight black that fell to his feet, with a stiff collar, adorned with silver embroidery, all the way down the opening of his robes. Across his body was a leather rope, attached to a bandaged sheath, which held something that he was never seen without- his zanpaktuo, the infamous katana, Zangetsu. His deep brown eyes were inquisitive, almost curious, as he took in the countless stares.

The young Kurosaki heir had arrived.

* * *

**I sincerely hope you enjoyed that :) and incase you didn't read anything I said earlier...please review/subscribe! THERE ARE QUADRUPLE CHOCOLATE OREO COOKIES UP FOR GRABS! Ughh, sorry, there was a LOT of dialogue, I know...but it had to be done D: I swear I'll add more description soon as I can :)**

**So...what do you think Rukia's stance will be on the appearance of the young heir? Or just leave a message with comments for improvement, or anything, really XD anything and everything will be valued! I do like to take out time to personally respond to each of my reviews/comments :)**

**Next chapter coming soon! But yeah, I have college and all...so it might be a pain trying to update TWO fanfics together XD be sure to check out my other stuff!**

**Love ya all xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry, this is a short Chapter xD but it is highly convenient where I end it, I feel. I've got so many positive responses already, I'm over the moon! Thankyou to PikaDigi, hinataellis, SuperRukia, Little White Comet, Thornspike, Rysund, Alpha male, Lilikap and Zangetsu50 for reviweing/subscribing etc! Love you all ^_^**

**I hope you enjoy this, I updated this early especially for you guys. Please, please keep reviewing/subcribing this way xD it really makes my day! And actually, it inspires me to write more xD like this update is really early, because it seems people are enjoying the story :)**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, but since my 18th birthday is in a week, I may ask for ownaaaaage!...or not. Someone might kill me T_T Kubo-sensei owns Bleach. And Studio Perriot own the anime...(which is OVER, dammit) I think? But hey, if I owned the Jigoku Hen soundtrack, I wouldn't rape the bloody thing over and over again in the anime! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?**

**I has free lemonade too. Do you guys like lemonade?**

* * *

Rukia clenched her fists tightly, her neat nails digging into her palm, her probing eyes never leaving the tall figure.

What was _he_ doing here?

She knew who he was, of course. Everyone did. But what business did he have here, at a small shop like hers? Or technically, Hisana's shop, since she was the owner.

"What do you-" Rukia began, spitting the words out distastefully, before a warm hand clamped down onto her mouth which she instantly recognised as Hisana'as.

"Not here, Ruu," Hisana whispered, using the nickname that Rukia clearly detested, and unfortunately, was only allowed to be used by Hisana. Hisana was her older sister, what could _she_ do about that?

"You don't know what he's like," she continued. Rukia stopped for a second. Was there _fear_ in Hisana's voice? What reason did someone like her to be afraid of this person?

"MmmmmmmMMMMMMMh!" was all she got in response, as she struggled against Hisana'a iron-grip. Though she didn't look it, Hisana has 3 black belts already. Heck, she even taught Karate on weekends.

Rukia stamped her foot on the wooden floor as loud as she could, resulting in a resounding _thud_ that earned her a few hostile stares. She really wanted to pound that _sonofabitch's _face to a pulp.

A/N: Most of you were right, after all xD Rukia does want to beat him up. But why? O_o

"Renji." Hisana spoke in that calm voice that she only used during tense situations. "See what he wants."

_See what he wants?_ Rukia seethed. _Why the hell should she do that? Take the fucking guy already!_

Wordlessly, Renji slid behind the counter, ink and paper in hand.

"Can I help you?" He drawled lazily, clearly bored, as though rich heirs walked into their bakery every single day.

"Yeah." The heir answered curtly, speaking for the first time in 10 minutes. "6 loaves of bread, 10 chocolate donuts and 8 baguettes,"

"Name?" Renji asked, scribbling the order down.

"Is that a joke?" The heir replied, his voice now cold.

"It's how we do things here," Renji said, his tone cool.

Hisana leant towards Renji, careful not to release a furious Rukia.

"There, there, don't antagonise him," she whispered. "Just keep doing what you're doing,"

"Gotcha." He winked at her.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." The heir replied to Renji's previous comment.

"Don't you want any _strawberry_ donuts?" Renji mocked.

"Shut up before I hit you," Kurosaki Ichigo growled. "I _hate_ strawberries! But I hate the colour of your hair more, you _pussy_," he snickered, raising an eyebrow. "What guy dyes their hair _pink_, anyway? Are you gay or something?"

"It's crimson! CRIMSON!" Renji yelled back, shaking a fist at him.

"I want this by 4pm _sharp_," he said, narrowing his eyes at Renji.

"It'll be done." This hasty response came from Hisana, with a note of finality.

"Oi, Kurosaki!" came a voice.

A tall boy, around the same height as Kurosaki Ichigo, strode into the overcrowded shop, his tight-fitted white robes glistening in the evening sun. He had curtains of raven hair falling on each side of his face, highlighting the pale, sharp features in his demeanour. He had dark blue eyes, covered by rectangular glasses, which he kept pushing up with annoying regularity.

"Yeah, I'm on my way, Ishida, no need to hound me like a rabid dog," Kurosaki Ichigo muttered under his breath.

"What was _that_?" Ishida demanded, referring to Kurosaki's earlier comment.

"Nothing, nothing," he dismissed the threat casually with a wave of his arm. "Let's go,"

And with that, the two boys turned around and left the shop.

At once, as though some sort of switch had been turned on, the chattering ensued, with the customers gossiping excitedly about what had just occurred.

"He's so badass, ain't he?" one of the girls chirped.

"Badass and cute, more like," another giggled.

"He's horrible!" a third exclaimed, amidst horrified stares.

"He's so dreamy..."

"Ishida-kun's better looking!"

Hisana released her grip on a spluttering Rukia, who began to cough profusely.

"You have to admire the guy, he certainly does have guts," Hisana remarked. "Not many guys can stand up to our Renji, like that."

"Admiration my FOOT!" Renji yelled. "Didn't you see how that bastard was mocking me?"

"There's nothing to admire him for, you know..." Rukia mumbled. "That guy is a pro asshole,"

"Agreed," Renji replied. "Glass of water, Rukia?" he offered.

Rukia picked up the glass, scrutinising its contents. "You didn't put anything in it, did you?" she asked suspiciously, not trusting Renji entirely with beverages.

"Nope, no laughing gas," Renji announced proudly.

"I don't believe you..."

"Whoa there midget, I'm being serious!"

Big mistake. Calling Rukia a midget was _never_ a good idea, and only earned him a knee to the groin.

"OWWWWWWWW!" Renji yelled, doubling up in pain.

"_Nobody_ calls me midget and gets away with it," Rukia snarled.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kurosaki Ichigo and his companion, Ishida Uryuu, were arguing.

"It's my turn to practice in the training area today!" Kurosaki was exclaiming.

"No, it's mine; I need to fine-tune my archery skills!" Ishida shouted back at him.

"I told your dad it was my turn!"

"Shut up, pea-brain!"

"Who you calling pea brain, four eyes!"

"Flame head!"

"Sewing machine!"

"Boys!" came a third voice, which was deep, and clearly carried authority.

The two boys fell silent as they realised that they were already at the front gates of the manor, something which they were unaware of due to their continuous bickering.

A tall man with cropped silvery hair stepped out of the shadows. The ends of it were flicked out, as though gelled that way. He also wore glasses similar to Uryuu, and was currently wearing a set of magnificent midnight blue robes with gold trimmings. His expression generally was one of natural calm, serenity and intelligence, not unlike Uryuu's- but at this point in time, it displayed irritation.

"Is this how you behave with one another?" he began, as the two boys looked down at their feet, heads bowed in shame.

"Sorry, Father," Uryuu mumbled. "It won't happen again,"

"You say that every time, Uryuu," he chastised. "Need I remind you two that you are now men? Have I taught you nothing? Do you intend to soil the Ishida name, Uryuu?"

"No, Father," he replied sullenly.

"However, I expected this sort of behaviour from you, Kurosaki. Unfortunately, you lack your mother's qualities, and are every bit as arrogant and stupid as your father was,"

"Don't talk about him like he's dead," Kurosaki snarled.

"I'm sorry to break your heart, but he is. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Again. All this man ever called him was _Kurosaki. _All _anyone_ ever called him was Kurosaki, for that matter. He was that 'poor Kurosaki orphan who has been taken in by the powerful Ishidas, along with his twin sisters.' However, he knew that the Kurosaki clan had been powerful back in the day, but now...

Now he was the last male heir. If he ended up without any male children, the Kurosaki lineage would effectively come to an end. The prospect was rather daunting.

He sighed sadly. When would he have his own identity? When would someone call him by his first name?

He turned around wordlessly and walked into the manor.

* * *

"Oooooooohaiyo!" came a high pitched voice.

A tall girl with long, auburn hair and a curvaceous figure walked in, completely oblivious to the lustful stares she was receiving.

"Orihime!" Rukia exclaimed, rushing forward, accidently dropping the glass she was holding, causing it to shatter into a thousand pieces. "What are you doing here?"

"I feel much better now, so I figured I'd come along and help!" she giggled happily.

"We're almost done now though, we're just cleaning up," Rukia replied, scrubbing a cloth across the counter. "By the way, did you hear about what happened earlier?"

"Didn't Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun come to the shop? I can't believe I missed that..." she said, her voice reproachful.

"There wasn't much to it, anyway," Rukia replied dryly. Although, if she had had her way, there would've been more. Much more.

"Oooh, what was it like? Tell me, tell me!" Orihime was quite literally jumping up and down in excitement.

"Well, come over here, and I'll tell you," Rukia said, beckoning towards Orihime to follow her.

"Stupid idiot..." muttered a voice.

"What happened to you, Abarai-kun?" Orihime asked concernedly.

"He's nursing his bruised ego and pride," Rukia snickered. "Kurosaki mocked his hair," she added.

"He did _what?_!"

"I know, right?"

The girls continued to gossip happily as they sat in the back room, much to 'Oooh's,' and 'Aaaah's' on Orihime's part.

"He really thinks a lot of himself, doesn't he?" Rukia commented.

"I always thought he looked sort of depressed...but he's really good looking, though," Orihime admitted.

"Oooh, does Orihime have a crush on someone?"

"I do not!" she retorted. "Rukia..."

"Hmm?" she replied absentmindedly, unaware of what Orihime was about to say.

"Why do you hate them so much?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you hate Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun so much?"

Oh, geez, let me see. Their stupid fathers only murdered my family when I was seven years old, broke my nee-sama's heart, destroyed my nii-sama's home, ruined my childhood, rendered us homeless, and chucked us out onto the streets where we would have died, if it hadn't been for nii-sama. They think they're so _elite _and that we're beneath us, when in reality they're just a bunch of goons who don't know left from right. What reason could I have to hate them?

But of course, Rukia didn't say that.

"I don't know," she admitted.

"Rukia!" Hisana called. "Come down quickly!"

"What is it, nee-sama?" Rukia enquired, bounding down the stairs.

"Look at this!" she exclaimed, holding a leaflet.

'LOOKING FOR A JOB?' It said. 'THEN APPLY HERE AT THE MANOR FOR CLEANING DUTIES. MINIMUM PAY. 9-6 HOURS. ENQUIRE WITHIN.'

"A job...at the manor?" Rukia murmured. She wasn't thinking about the pay, at all. Truth be told, Hisana earned enough at the bakery to pay for any expenses. She had something else on her mind.

"If I get this job, then...Then..."

_Then I can spy on them._

_Would I be doing the right thing?_

'Of course I would,' Rukia chastised herself. 'They all deserve what they get. No opportunity could be more perfect than this.'

She was right, in more ways that she could ever comprehend.

* * *

Rukia stopped outside the manor, clutching the leaflet. She gave out a low whistle; the place indeed was splendid, and released an aura of grandeur and splendour. The manor itself was a huge, square building with rows of elegant, luxurious windows, each one housing a different room. The brickwork was a rich, reddish colour, indicating that the manor was fairly new. In the middle was an arched tunnel, leading towards the outdoor courtyard, complete with fountain and a small garden. The exterior was defended by 5 metre high iron gates running all around, with two guards- heavily armed, with pikestaffs- standing on either side of the entrance.

"State your business here!" One of the guards spoke, his voice harsh and commanding.

"Uhm..." Rukia gulped, slightly intimidated by the guard. "I'm here for the job?" she held out the leaflet, which the guard rigorously scrutinised. He nodded at his companion.

"In you go." And with that, the iron gates creaked open, allowing her in.

The first step in her mission.

* * *

**There we go, I hope you enjoyed that ^_^ Don't forget to subscribe/review, for your free cookies! Damn, I sound like one of those annoying salespeople 'Don't forget to buy this awesome washing up liquid so you can claim your FREE iPad!' No. NOBODY gives away free iPad's. IT'S A SCAM.**

**But I do give out free cookies.**

**Alright, so what do you think Rukia will do next? Ichigo's reaction? Ishida's reaction? EVERYONE'S reaction? Nah. Just Ichigo, then. **

**Should I bring Byakuya back? Three cheers if you want him back!**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is an even shorter chapter than the last, but I do apologise... my mind works this way, shorter chapters xD and I do remember saying that I'd update Monday (today!) so here you go.**

**First of all, I'd like to thank the following people: Tensai-Teki Kuroneko, chibiyukia, PikiDigi, Lilikap, IchigoMoonCutter, KrAzI JaY, Glon Morski, Crystalline Arch, and saya97 for reviewing/subscribing to my story! Wow...I really don't know what to say. In just the space of a few days, people are already reviewing/subscribing, so I'm very happy. if I've missed you out, I'm sorry . but remember, I love you all ^_^**

**If you haven't already done so, please click that lovely blue button at the end of the chapter for free cookies and lemonade! Yes, I feel the amount of reviews/subscription is largely in part due to my bribery...hehehehe, there's more where that came from! REVIEW/SUBSCRIBE NOW FOR YOUR FREE COOKIES/LEMONADE! ...If you don't like either of those, I have other stuff too. Like marshmallows. And erm...what is it Americans eat? Smores? Yeah, I got those too.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this. I'm finding it a bit of a challenge to write this fanfic, since my main motive is to keep everyone IC. But Ichigo, my dear friend, (and the ultimate meaning of the word sexy ;D) is proving very VERY hard to stay in character. So if anyone has any suggestions or tips for improvement...I'm open to it all. Thanks for your unwavering support, guys! I promise to update as soon as I can, most likely this week. But now I'm back in college...it might be hard. But I'll try my best, for YOU guys. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I might raid Studio Perriot and Kubo-sensei's house on Friday to ask for the rights, since it's my 18th birthday ;D and hey...a girl has to have some fun on her birthday, right? That aside, if I DID own Bleach, I probably would have 'accidentally' got Orihime run over by a truck, or something. No more 'Kurosaki-kun!' No, I'm not hating. She just annoys the crap out of me, sometimes...**

**If I did own Bleach, RUKIA WOULD BE BACK BY NOW AND BE AT HUECO MUNDO WITH ICHIGO RIGHT NOW! Unless Kubo got her kidnapped by the ghastly Vandenreich. Kubo, if you do that...I'LL LOSE ALL HOPE. DO NOT HURT RUKIA.**

**I'm warning you.**

**Sorry, enjoy the chapter!**

**~Tazski**

* * *

"Bring the prisoner forward." The cold voice commanded, its harsh tone echoing eerily around the silent chamber.

The prisoner was dragged forward and thrown onto the stone cold floor, with a sickening crunch. He tilted his head upwards slightly, surveying his captor with the utmost hatred.

"You'll _pay_ for this," he hissed, as a trickle of blood ran down his face, where he had been hit earlier.

"I won't be paying for _anything_," the voice sneered with mock derision. "It is you who shall be paying for your carelessness…"

"You must be a _fool_!" the captive shouted, his rough voice ringing in the chamber, much to the amusement of the captor. "A fool to think that you could take on the Vandenreich by yourself!"

"No, no," the voice laughed. "I'd be stupid to try take on those big-headed morons all by _myself_," it said, assuring the captive, albeit in a rather spooky manner. "Can't you see the loyal army I've gathered?" it continued, gesturing a slim, white finger towards the table, which was full of an assortment of men and women.

"So, when do 'ya wanna do this?" a cheery voice asked. The captive looked up. In front of him was a marble- and for want of a better word, what could only be described as a throne- with a seated figure on it, ostensibly male, dressed in flowing white robes. Next to him was a man in similar attire to the captor, his face hidden in shadow- yet the captive thought he saw a flash of silver and a glimmer of turquoise.

"Not long now, my dear friend," the captor replied.

"Stay away from them both, or there'll be hell to pay!" the captive shouted in retaliation.

"SILENCE!" the captor roared, shocking the man besides him. The captor rarely got angry.

"Gin, take away our…. _friend,"_ he spat in disgust. "I think he's had enough excitement for today. Do make him…comfortable, will you?"

"Sure thing," the man named Gin replied, dragging away the captor without a trace of remorse.

"The real game begins _now_," the captor spoke, erupting into an evil cackle, as a strand of brown hair fell into his pale face.

* * *

Hisana was cleaning the bakery.

"I wonder how Rukia's doing…" she mused every now and again, as she hummed a song under her breath, as she wiped the counter once more, forgetting that Rukia had already done it before she left.

Hisana stopped for a second, glancing warily at the door.

"Did I leave it open?" she asked herself, sure that she had closed it as soon as Rukia had left for the manor to apply for a cleaning job. Though why she wanted a cleaning job of all the things she could do…it was beyond Hisana's train of thought. Rukia herself was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Or was it enigma in a mystery?

"Never mind that…" she mumbled, as she strode over to the door. She paused momentarily, catching a faint scent of cherry blossoms in the cold breeze. Cherry blossoms? At this time of year?

She turned around, and froze. Something was clearly amiss. Where had the box on the counter come from? She definitely hadn't put it there. And why were there a bouquet of red roses on the table?

* * *

**A/N: Tensai-Teki Kuroneko, this part is for YOU! Enjoy ;D**

* * *

"Hello," came a quiet voice from behind, smooth as silk.

That voice…could it be?

Hisana slowly turned around, as if in a dream, and beheld the sight of the man before her. Slanted grey eyes, wavy ebony-black hair adorned with the signature hairpiece that he treasured, a faint smile on his lips that she rarely saw these days. He was dressed in magnificent robes of the deepest blue, with gold trimmings on the edge, and gave off the faint scent of cheery blossoms that Hisana had smelt earlier.

He was _here._

She felt as though her heart had stopped in its tracks.

"Byakuya…sama?" she whispered.

* * *

Rukia hated to admit it, but even she felt rather intimidated by this place. She stood in the huge 'hallway' of the manor, dominated by a giant, sparkling chandelier in the middle of the excessively high ceiling, the walls decorated with luxurious silver and adorned by several family portraits, mainly of the Ishidas. None of them included the Kurosakis. Weird.

She gazed around her, taking note of the huge, elegantly decorated staircase that led off to two different directions, probably to an assortment of different rooms. Even stood here, she felt small, compared to the interior of the manor, and she didn't like it one bit. Every speck of the manor spoke elegance, luxury, and opulence.

"Pompous brats," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" came a scowl, which she recognised as being Kurosaki Ichigo's.

"I said pompous brats," she replied, raising her voice. There was no way in freaking hell that she'd let him get the better of her. Who the hell did he think he was, anyway? Royalty? 'Ha, ha' she muttered sarcastically at her lame joke.

"You've got some nerve, saying that…. midget," he replied with a wicked grin. He was enjoying this already.

"You WHAT?" she shouted, furious._ Nobody_ called her midget and got away with it. So she gave him a knee to the groin, taking the total of knee groins of the day to two. At this rate, she was going to beat her record, which was 6- all on a poor, unsuspecting Renji who had called her 'midget' twice, 'shorty' 3 times, and 'pixie' once.

"AAAAH!" He shouted, his voice echoing in the silent manor. "What did you do that for, _freak_? That bloody hurt!"

By now, Rukia was struggling to keep a straight face. Who knew this guy could be so _funny? _She started to giggle, before stopping herself abruptly. That was_ not_ what she was here for.

"What the hell you looking at?" Rukia snapped in response to the strange look on Kurosaki Ichigo's face.

"Uhhh… erm, anyway…who the hell are you?" he asked, scrutinising the strange woman before him.

"I'm here for the cleaning job," she muttered, holding the leaflet out to him, which he took in a swift movement.

"Hmm…" he murmured thoughtfully. "I think you're the first to even bother showing up…"

Really? In that case, it'll be a heck of a lot quicker to kill you. No fancy break-ins, no sneaking up behind you at 3 in the morning. _Awesome._

"Great," Rukia replied enthusiastically, pleased that everything was going according to plan. So far. Now she had to befriend him. And then _kill _him.

"What's your name?" he asked, not too unkindly.

"Rukia Kuchiki. And I don't suppose I need to ask you who you are, right?"

"You were at the bakery earlier, weren't you?" he asked, ignoring her comment.

_Asshole._

"Yeah." She replied curtly.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, thanks _so_ much for asking," he spoke, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, holding out his hand.

Rukia gazed at it for a second. What was she supposed to do again…? This sort of etiquette had always been for Hisana to learn, not her. She'd always been as free as a bird.

"Well?" He asked, curious. "Aren't you going to shake my hand?"

"Huh?"

"You're dumb, aren't you…" he muttered, just loud enough for Rukia to hear.

"You have stupid hair," she replied, hoping it would piss him off. It did.

"Shut up about my hair!" he yelled, annoyed.

"So how do you do this shaking hand thing?"

"Seriously…nobody told you how to do a handshake?" he sniggered.

Rukia shrugged. "I never needed to learn," she said, before catching sight of his face.

"Stop _laughing!_"

"You don't even know…how to…Oh God, you really _are_ stupid," he laughed.

"I'd only have learnt it if I had been a freakin' princess," she muttered.

She sneezed.

"Err…here you go," Kurosaki Ichigo said, putting his hand back in his pocket and taking out a handkerchief.

"Thanks," Rukia replied, her voice muffled by the handkerchief.

"As for the handshake, it goes like this…" he began, and then showed her.

"Oh…okay," she replied, surprised. She didn't know it was so _simple._

Stupid Kurosaki Ichigo. Stupid know-it-all.

"Thanks again, I suppose…Ichigo," she replied, smirking. If calling him by his first name didn't irritate him, she didn't know what would.

"Yeah…Rukia." Came the astonishing reply.

Rukia watched, surprised, as a change seemed to overcome the orange haired boy. He appeared to be somewhat lost in though, almost free of any sort of facial expressions, almost..vulnerable. Innocent.

She shook her head, banishing the thought. She had to concentrate on the task at hand.

After all, how hard could it be to trick someone into being your friend and then kill them?

She had no idea what she was getting herself into.

* * *

"…you start tomorrow, 8 am," said the Chief servant, a well-built man in his forties, who wore a white apron which was stained with what looked suspiciously like blood.

"Awesome. And I'm to report to you, right?"

"That's right, dear," he smiled, causing Rukia to clench her fists tightly, and resist to punch the man in his stupid bulbous face. _Pervert._

"Night, then," Rukia replied, glaring at the servant, who continued smiling as though nothing had happened. She'd have to practice her scary poses when she got home.

Rukia walked back out into the hallway, glancing at the décor one more time. It'd be lovely to live here,' she thought.

And then she sneezed, frightening herself, shivering slightly as a result, thinking about what it meant. As well as believing that if you sneezed, someone was thinking about you- in this case, it was probably Hisana, wondering when she'd get home- the Kuchiki's had traditionally believed that when you sneezed, whatever you were thinking about at the time would come true.

Creepy.

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and headed off home.

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo sat on his bed, a perplexed look on his face, as he gazed at his room. White, high-panelled walls, like everywhere else in the manor, a floor-length window adorned by luxurious curtains of the darkest blue, held by silver tie-backs, an elegant four poster bed. A mahogany cupboard that held his clothes and shoes. And other essentials.

He shook his head slightly, trying to clear the fuzziness from his brain, trying to figure out why he was feeling so strange all of a sudden.

That was it.

Rukia had called him by his first name.

* * *

**Crystalline Arch, you were right :3 Rukia IS the first person to call Ichigo by his first name... in a while. I can't explain what that means, yet, but Glon Morski, I'd love to thankyou for your awesome suggestion! ^^ I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. If you have any suggestions/tips, either leave a review or PM me, I'm open to them!**

**Make my day by pressing that lovely blue button underneath this useless bold wall of text! xD **

**Free cookies and lemonades up for grabs!...or whatever you enjoy. I have it alllllllll ;D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: An early update! My final lesson today was cancelled, so I finished college today at 10.30, which gives me a LOT of free time. You might find this chapter boring, because it's an 'in-between' chapter - my word for those chapters that HAVE to be done to progress the story smoothly. Please, please be patient with me guys...I promise the best bit is still yet to come, and hopefully you will enjoy it! Please understand that these 'in-betweens' are necessary for the fluidity and the pace of the story to remain constant...otherwise I'd have to put in more time-skips, and I really don't wanna do that. Really. **

**First of all, I'd like to thank the following people: Tensai-Teki Kuroneko, PikaDigi, Glon Morski, Crystalline Arch, Noitca, Otta, sloaniebear, Alpha male, DeviantHollow23, and Dark Hollow Fox for reviewing and/or subscribing to my story! Your support is really what keeps me going, and without it, I wouldn't have the heart to write this fanfic. I've been getting some really great suggestions too lately, so I'm really pleased with that- thankyou! Remember, if you want constant updates like these, please continue to review/subscribe to my story, and don't forget to tell your friends! The more/reviews/subscriptions I have, the faster I'll get these updates out. In fact, I might get a second update out by tomorrow, hell, even TODAY, if people want it! So make your voice heard ;D**

**All you gotta do is press that heavenly little button at the bottom of the chapter that says 'Review this Chapter'. Not only will you get faster updates if you do, you also get FREE COOKIES AND LEMONADE! And if you don't like either of those...I have other stuff. Like marshmallows. And bonbons. And smores. (I've never had smores, because I'm BRITISH and we eat SCONES and CRUMPETS.) It's true. I love tea, scones, and crumpets. And muffins. But no, I don't have wooden teeth or wear a flat cap. That is so passé.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach. If I did, I would be dead right now, at the hands of an IchiHime fan who got pissed because I made IchiRuki canon and killed Orihime. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**...she's okay, really. Lol.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

"Well, that was strange…" Rukia murmured, as she walked down the narrow alleyway to her house. She was thinking about the whole incident at the palace with Ichigo, and how he'd behaved so…. strangely. That was the only way she could describe it, really. Did he hate her too? No, not possible. He had no reason to hate her, whatsoever. He didn't even know her.

Something else was really bugging her, though. As someone who liked to analyse everything in the tiniest detail until she was satisfied, the earlier events posed itself as somewhat of an enigma to her, which unsettled her.

"_I think you're the first to even bother showing up…"_ Ichigo had said. Did that mean nobody else had bothered applying for the job at the manor? That, in itself, was strange. Rukia remembered that when one of the kitchen jobs had been available a few years back, countless girls had fought with each other in order to get the job. In the end, they had hired a male in order to avoid conflict, much to extreme disappointment. Then why had no one but her applied this time?

Something was definitely going on, and Rukia was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Deep in thought, she hadn't realised where she was. She looked up to see a small, dingy shop with small, dusty windows and a faded blue door in front of her. Above the shop were the letters 'AZANAKI TWENTY FOUR HOUR SWEET SHOPPE' emblazoned and embossed in a bright, shiny gold, which glowed radiantly in the shimmering light of the full moon. The tattered sign on the door still read 'OPEN' despite it being 11pm. Curious, Rukia stepped inside.

Mihito, the owner of the shop, was stood behind the counter, dusting the various jars of traditional sweets, humming a classic tune under her breath. She noticed Rukia, and smiling, walked up the counter.

"How can I help you at this time, Rukia-san?" she asked. Mihito Azanaki was an elderly woman in her seventies, renowned across the empire for selling the tastiest sweets. It was common from people from distant lands to come and taste her sweets, they were _that_ good. The Azanaki's were traditionally a family of confectioners, dating back over 300 years. Nobody made sweets like they did.

"Hmm…." Rukia contemplated, a smile on her face as she spotted a jar of strawberry bonbons, which were down to its last few.

"I suppose I don't need to ask, do I?" Mihito enquired, her tone friendly. Rukia was extremely fond of strawberry bonbons, and was always the first thing she bought every time she visited the sweet shop. "I'm afraid we're down to the last few, sweetie," she continued, a hint of regret in her voice.

"Do I still get the Chappy toy with it?" Rukia asked eagerly.

"I saved the last one, especially for you, Rukia-san," the elderly woman smiled. Clearly she was fond of Rukia, as she had been a regular customer to the shop ever since she was old enough to walk and talk.

"I'll wrap the rest for you, shall I? And don't worry, I'll give you a special Chappy bag with it."

"Yay!" Rukia exclaimed loudly. This surprised Mihito a little, especially as Rukia didn't often express her emotions this way. Chappy was an exception, though. Rukia _adored_ Chappy.

Feeling content, Rukia strolled out of the shop, and headed home, munching on her beloved strawberry bonbons.

* * *

Ichigo sighed. He was _so_ bored. He glanced at the clock, which currently read 12am. Jeez, shouldn't he be asleep by now?

He got up and opened the luxurious mahogany cupboard, taking out a small, yet thick, blue notebook. It had a soft leather cover, and was bound by a elegant red ribbon, which was twisted around a small gold clasp complete with a lock. This lock could only be opened by one key- which hung around Ichigo's neck.

He opened the lock, and slowly flicked through the pages, reading random entries here and there, colouring slightly. He felt slightly embarrassed at what he had written, feeling childish. But at least, this way, he was honouring his mother's wishes.

'Dear Diary…' he began. 'No, scratch that. I sound like a freaking gay. What moron writes 'Dear Diary' anyway? Except for Ishida, maybe…'

'**Hi there,'** he began. '**Erm…what to say?' **He really had no idea, since he hadn't written in his diary for almost 2 years. The entry before that had been a blow-by-blow description of his first proper victory of Ishida in hand-to-hand combat. Feeling slightly guilty, he continued.

'**It's been a while, I know. I've had a lot to do…sorry. Are you mad at me? I know…there's a lot you could blame me for. But I really hope you aren't mad. I went to the bakery to buy my favourite chocolate donuts. I met an idiot there, who tried to be **_**funny**_** with me, so I mocked his stupid pink hair. The punk had it coming, though. Then that stupid Ishida started yelling at me, and of course I had to go with him, otherwise his ass of a father would start yelling at me **_**again.**_** Can you believe that guy? Speaking of Ryuuken Ishida…well, he started on me **_**again. **_**Why the hell does he always have to pick on me for? I bloody well didn't do anything to him…or I don't think I did, anyway. Unless he found out that I spiked Ishida's drink that night. Nobody's actually supposed to know that...**

**Mom, I'm sick of this. No, I really am. Ishida's dad always treats me like I'm some sort of big asshole, and he's **_**always**_** having a go at me. Like it's my fault I have orange hair, or something. I still don't get that, by the way. If you had brown hair, and dad had black hair, then how come I have orange hair? I mean even Karin and Yuzu got their hair off you guys. This is seriously fucked up. Ehm…excuse my language, Mom. I suppose you'd tell me off for that.**

**So yeah, just as I thought my day couldn't get any worse, that midget shows up. You know, the Kuchiki girl? And then **_**she**_** starts having a go at me, like she's some sort of high and mighty. But…and this is the weird thing, she's the only one who turned up for the cleaning job. I mean last time, there were about a hundred girls trying to murder each other for the job. Weird, huh?**

**Now I can't sleep. I'm freaking tired, though. So…I guess I'll go now. Hope you're okay up there.**

**Ichigo.'**

He finished the diary entry there, and stopped for a moment to inspect what he had written. That would be satisfactory. Somehow, he felt as though a weight had been lifted off his chest. He knew that writing in a diary, especially to his _Mom _would be considered really dorky. But as long as nobody knew…

Ichigo sighed once more, sadly. It was nearly 10 years to the day since his Mom had died, and his father had been taken away, leaving him and his two sisters as orphans. Life hadn't been good since then, but his sisters, and his mother's promise kept him going, and he was determined to never let them down. If he lost all hope, what would happen to Karin and Yuzu?

"Oi, Kurosaki, what the hell do you think you're doing?" came an angry voice. Turning around, he saw Ishida standing in the doorway, looking downright furious.

"What do you want, you idiot?" Ichigo replied too tired to care. It was getting late.

"Where did you put it?" Ishida demanded, grabbing the collar of Ichigo's robes.

"What?" Ichigo questioned, perplexed. He really had no idea what Ishida was talking about…

"I said, _where did you put it!"_ he repeated, his voice rising to a yell.

"What the hell, Ishida? Stop nagging me would you?" Ichigo retorted, feeling slightly fed up. What the hell was with this guy?

"Where's my Quincy armband?" Ishida asked once more, his voice brisk.

"I wouldn't know where your hair band is, so stop nagging," Ichigo said, glaring at Ishida.

"_Arm_band," Ishida corrected, irritated.

"What do I care? I said stop nagging me and fuck off, you pussy. I'm tired, okay?"

"Give it _back,_" Ishida snarled.

"_I said I don't have it!"_ Ichigo yelled, exasperated. "Just get lost, would ya?"

"Ugh, whatever…" Ishida grumbled, as he strode out of the room.

"Dickhead…" Ichigo muttered, pacing the room for a few moments.

Ichigo flopped down onto the bed, closing his eyes, breathing deeply. He was out within seconds.

* * *

Rukia could hear voices. She stepped into the cool house, the bakery silent now that it was shut for the night. One of the voices was unmistakably that of her sister…but who was the other?

The voices seemed calm, she was sure of that. So therefore, nothing was wrong…was it? They were coming from upstairs, though. Hisana never invited anyone upstairs, if she could avoid it. What on earth was going on…?

Stealthily, Rukia crept up the stairs, confused and a little curious. Hisana and a stranger were sat on her _bed,_ conversing in low, soothing voices.

"I'm staying for good," the stranger was saying. "I have duties towards the two of you. I can assure you I won't be leaving in a hurry this time,"

"That's a relief to hear, Byakuya-sama," Hisana was saying, a smile on her face.

Wait…_Nii-sama?_

Byakuya turned around, his cold grey eyes boring into hers.

"Hello, Rukia," he spoke in that solemn way of his.

"Hello….Nii-sama," Rukia replied, meekly. Was she _afraid?_

'Don't be silly…' she muttered to herself.

"What was that, Rukia?" Hisana asked, a tone of happiness to her voice that Rukia hadn't noticed previously.

"Oh nothing, talking to myself…well, er, I won't disturb you…" she made to go downstairs, but was cut off by Hisana.

"No that's okay, me and Byakuya-sama were just about to go downstairs. You go to sleep, we have to get up early, remember?"

"Of course…" As if she'd forget. 'Uh, Hisana? I erm…" she hesitated a second, before continuing. "I got the job…"

"Oh, that's great to hear!" Hisana replied enthusiastically. "Did you hear that, Byakuya-sama?"

"Yes." He replied, a man of few words.

"I start at 8, finish at…actually, I'm not sure…" Rukia said, thinking hard.

"Oh, okay," Hisana replied, a sad tone in her voice. She was so accustomed to Rukia being around her all the time that it was hard to let go like that. Little did she know that it was just the beginning.

* * *

"Clean the room, dust it, tidy the bed, make sure it's absolutely _spotless," _the Chief Servant barked, showing a ruthless side of him that Rukia had yet not seen- but which was common to everyone else.

He could at least be a little _nicer._

She stalked upstairs, climbing the ornate staircase, panting with every breath she took. Man, there were so many _damn steps._ Why did his room have to be _all the way_ on the fucking _top floor?_

Still concentrating on following the Chief Servant's hasty directions to Ichigo's room, she didn't notice him hurtling towards her at full speed, clearly having other things to do. This, unfortunately for both of them, resulting in an almighty _crash._

"Holy _shit-"_

"What the _fuck…"_

They both stood up at the same time, rubbing their heads. Rukia glanced upwards to see a very irritated Ichigo glaring at her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you fucking midget?" he demanded, a menacing expression on his face.

"I could ask you the same!" Rukia retorted, now angry. What right did he have to insult her like that? Who the _fuck_ did he think he was?

"At least watch where you're going? Oh right, I can't say that, since you're too tiny to spot anything higher than a table, or something," he responded sarcastically.

"You stupid _ass, _you're so full of yourself, you know that?" Rukia shouted, pissed. He was really getting on her nerves now. If he wasn't careful, she'd end up punching him. Not that he would care…. he'd probably just laugh at the sight of her trying to reach his face, so she decided against it. Besides, she'd probably be arrested or something.

"So?" Ichigo shrugged. What did he care?

"Just because you're wealthy, it doesn't give you the right to insult others just like that!"

Ichigo stepped back a little, taken aback. _Nobody_ ever spoke to him like that. Except…yeah, Ishida. But morons didn't count.

"You're seriously retarded, you know that?" Ichigo spoke, his voice deadly quiet.

Then he walked away.

Rukia could only stop and stare at him in anger, her fists clenched, seeting silently.

She would make him pay.

* * *

**So what did you think of Ichigo's REAL side? Yes, he's a huge softie when it comes to his mother, and maybe his sisters...and no, he really doesn't give a shit about much else. That is obvious, I think...**

**What about Rukia? Yep, I made a Chappy reference xD most of the IchiRuki fanfics I've read have Chappy in them. It's a MUST. I only used strawberry bonbons because they're PINK. XD**

**I know it's a bit short-ish, but I find that my mind works that way. I find it easier to do loads of chapters instead of a few long ones, because for me, the pacing is better, the story is fluid and smooth, and I can add more detail to it.**

**I also know that you might have found it a little boring in terms of progression- there's not much going on, I agree. However, as I said before...it's necessary! D: it's for the sake of the pacing. Just wait till later, I have several surprises for you all. No, you'll never guess ;) or at least I hope you don't. Hehe ;D**

**I'll try my best to get another update out today, if I can. If not, most likely tomorrow...or even Friday. Actually, it's sorta a conflict...I want to release a chapter on my birthday too! D:**

**Till next time~**

**~Tazski**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: REWRITTEN CHAPTER ****Hi, guys! Here's Chapter Five. I've edited the original chapter that I uploaded this afternoon slightly, as I've rewritten it at least FOUR times now. And FINALLY I'm happy with it. Sort of. I'm not so sure about Rukia's character in this... Good news is that I've fixed a proper time for updates. I'm hoping to update every Monday, as long as things go smoothly ^_^**

**If you read the original chapter, feel free to read this too! Most of it is the same, but there's changes here and there in my mission to keep the characters as IC as possible. Although that won't be possible forever...xD but for now, yes.**

**This chapter just doesn't really make sense in my opinion…but I'd probably say it's a reflection on Rukia's part, more than anything. I'll keep the AN short, as I don't wanna bore you guys, ahah.**

**Review button = down there. Please don't forget to leave a review! And suggestions are always welcome.**

**I'd like to thank the following people: PikaDigi, Tensai-Teki Kuroneko, callmebirdie, Glon Morski, Xx j3t xX, amwick, Lenuca, Alpha male, blacksoul92, shadow6600, and Lilikap for reviewing/subscribing! Love you all!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Just the first 3 volumes of the manga which I got for my birthday last week ;) it feels great being a legal adult, haha. Though I still feel like a child. No, I didn't get the rights for my birthday T_T I wish I had, hehe.**

* * *

The next several weeks passed without incident, but as Spring began to arrive, and the cherry blossoms began falling, Rukia seemed to notice that Ichigo's behaviour was seemingly indifferent, despite her attempts to annoy him. Sure, they'd had the odd argument or two- most notably the time she'd thrown a beaker of juice all over him and ruined his 'incredibly expensive and _classy _jeans' (his words, not hers, of course- who knew guys were so darn _touchy _about clothes?)

When he'd first found her messing up his room (on purpose, of course) he'd just lain down on the bed and ignored her, as though she didn't exist. The second time, she'd made him a cup of green tea, and she'd thrown it to the ground, smashing the cup, 'by accident' (Three times!) and he'd just ordered a new cup each time. Last night, she had been tidying his room, after he'd thrown a few things about. (She suspected that he'd had _another_ fight with Ishida- seriously, when would the two spoilt brats grown up? Honestly.) – And she'd taken advantage of his anger to throw a pen at him. He caught it in his hand, though, because of his excellent reflexes- something that probably ran in his family.

Rukia was a Kuchiki though. Kuchikis weren't well known for following the rules. If someone told her to do something, she'd usually do the opposite. No wonder she often drove Hisana crazy. But why didn't this affect Ichigo in the slightest? She knew he had a temper, which was obvious. However, despite the arguments, (She wished she could go throw another beaker of juice at him!) he didn't really seem to be as pissed as she hoped- or more accurately, _wanted_ him to be. And in turn, that made HER angry.

Rukia scrubbed the table with increasing ferociousness, steaming over the absurdity and ridiculousness of the whole situation. Maybe she should just sneak into the house and stab him.

But that wouldn't be right, either. She'd be found out straight away, no doubt about that. And more than anything, she desperately _needed_ the truth about _that_ night. Was needed the right word? Yes, it was. And if she killed him NOW, she'd never find out. Her heart wouldn't be content until she got her revenge. Mainly on Ichigo Kurosaki, the jumped-up cocky bastard.

What gave him the right to behave like that with her? Sure, she was poor. Yes, she had very little money, and Hisana worked her butt off day and night trying to earn a living. But just because he'd been born with a silver spoon in his mouth didn't give him the right to mock her heritage. She was a Kuchiki, damn it. Kuchikis don't back away. They stand up to their enemies and hell, they fight it out.

But isn't that what she was doing?

"Fucking _ass_…" she muttered once more.

Rukia knew that he'd lost his family too, just like her. But still…. could anyone be so _damn stupid? _Maybe living with the Ishidas hadn't done him any good. Actually...traditionally speaking, the Kurosakis and the Ishidas had lived side by side for generation upon generation, and were well respected across the empire. Revered, even. Then why?

"Why am I even thinking this?" Rukia questioned herself. "Huh. I don't give a crap." And she continued cleaning.

It was then that the rising sun seemed to glint off Ichigo's cupboard where he kept all his things. It was still ajar, as he'd been in a hurry and had forgotten to close it. She caught sight of a blue notebook, which was peeking out from beneath the rack, which held his clothes.

Intrigued, Rukia walked over to the cupboard and pulled out the notebook. Fortunately for her, the lock on it was open, as Ichigo had forgotten to lock it after his hasty confrontation with Ishida the night before. The leather was beautiful, smooth to her fingertips, as she ran her hand over it. Thinking it wouldn't hurt to take a peek, she propped it open…

"G-GET YOUR HANDS OFF THAT!" came a shout. Startled, Rukia dropped the notebook onto the floor, almost falling over in an effort to back away. No prizes for guessing who it was. Ichigo strode into the room, a strange expression on his face, his eyes wide in shock. He attempted to snatch the notebook off the floor, but Rukia managed to snag it just in time, deftly dodging him and ducking under his outstretched arm, climbing onto the table.

"What are you doing here? He growled, honouring her with his famous frown, as he composed himself.

"Hmm…." Rukia absentmindedly stroked her chin, appearing to think deeply. "I don't really know. What's it to you, anyway? You definitely wrote 'lots of love'… hey, did you get a girlfriend?"

He sighed, rolling his eyes and holding out his hand.

"Don't be an idiot and give it back," he said.

"No." She stuck her tongue out at him cheekily.

"I said, _give it back_," he hissed. Even though she was stood on his table, he was almost the same height. Then again, the table was only about a foot high. Either that or he was way tall. Probably both.

"Nuh-uh." She replied, crossing her arms.

In her mind's eye, she saw herself karate kicking Ichigo and standing over him, a satisfied expression on her face. But no, that dream couldn't become reality…at least not yet. She'd probably be hung. Plus, she didn't even know any Karate. It simply wasn't _fair. _Her sister had mastered Karate, Aikido _and _Ninjutsu, yet she herself knew absolutely nothing. She'd tried to ask Hisana to let her learn…but to no avail. In fact, Hisana's response had chilled her to the very core, and she'd never asked again.

Hisana rarely screamed. Hell, she rarely got mad. Then why….?

"How the hell can someone so small be so fucking _annoying_? Jeez, just give it back already!" Ichigo shouted, now really pissed off. "Didn't your parents ever teach you that stealing from others is wrong? Probably not, since you don't have any manners _whatsoever_,"

Rukia clenched her fists, furious. _Nobody_ insulted _her_ family that way.

"Well _maybe_ my family didn't have the _time _to teach me manners thanks to yours!" she shouted, throwing the only thing she happened to be holding in her hand. The notebook.

Ichigo picked up the notebook from where it had landed in his hair, looking slightly perplexed, as though he didn't know what was going on.

"_What_ did you just say?" he asked Rukia, his voice deadly quiet.

"Ichi-nii?" came a female voice voice. Ichigo's younger sister, Karin, stood in the doorway. She had straight black hair and grey eyes, and was dressed in a shirt and pants, compared to her twin sister Yuzu, who had light brown hair, the same colour as her mother's, and the telltale brown eyes that were a copy of her older brother's. Even Karin's outfit was contradictory to Yuzu's, who was dressed in swathes of soft, delicate fabric. Karin had never really cared for clothes.

"Ichi-nii…." Karin repeated, her grey eyes boring into his brown ones "What are you _doing_?"

"We thought we-" Yuzu began, slightly hysterically, before Karin gave her a warning glare. "We thought we...heard you shouting at Rukia-san," she finished lamely.

"Well I didn't do anything," he said defensively. "_She_ was snooping around in my room," he added, pointing his index finger at her.

"What?" Rukia shrugged nonchalantly as three pairs of eyes stared at her, one accusing, two curious.

"Honestly Ichi-nii, you're so childish…grow up, will ya?" Karin spoke, a bored expression on her face.

"Are you sure everything's okay...Onii-chan...Rukia-san?" Yuzu enquired once more, her brown eyes wide.

"Yeah, I told you, everything's fine, now leave me alone, would ya?" Ichigo growled.

Yuzu looked back and forth at Rukia and Ichigo as though trying to figure something out.

"Onii-chan, you're a pervert!" Yuzu exclaimed at last.

"HUH?" Ichigo and Rukia both chorused. Clearly, neither of them had seen this coming.

"Well _duh," _Karin finished, rolling her eyes in a manner not unlike her brother's. "I mean," she added quickly, turning slightly red. "Guy and girl in a room, what do you expect? All you teenage boys are the same." She rolled her eyes again.

"_Women_." Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Would you all stop rolling your eyes?" Yuzu pleaded.

"Whatever," came the chorus, followed by two pairs of rolling eyes.

Rukia couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"What?" Ichigo frowned at her. She stopped abruptly.

"Oh nothing, nothing..."

"Onii-chan, you should apologize to Rukia-san for shouting at her," Yuzu said quietly.

"Me? _Why?_ She shouted at me too..." Ichigo replied, his tone incredulous.

"Whatever, _both_ of you apologise to each other and shut up, you're giving me a headache," Karin complained, before walking out, followed by Yuzu, and then Rukia, who jumped off the table, nearly knocking it over. She liked standing on things.

Ichigo sat on his bed, sighing. What a pain. That Rukia really pissed him off. What bothered him was the fact that she had read _his_ diary. How much had she seen? Who would she tell? Judging by her personality….probably the whole world.

"Argh…my reputation…" he mumbled. Perhaps she hadn't even read anything inside it. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable, and went over to the large window, and opened it a fraction. Fresh air. That was sure to clear his thoughts a little.

Wrong.

It only made him more confused. And angry. Who did that Rukia Kuchiki think she was? Now, people insulted him on a regular basis, but he didn't give a shit. Then why the hell was this whole incident plucking at his nerves? Maybe it was because his sisters had been involved too. Or maybe...what had she said?

_Well maybe my family didn't have the time to teach me manners thanks to yours!_

What on earth did that mean?

"Tch." He snickered. Why was he laughing now? The whole incident had been ludicrous from start to finish; it was sort of hard to believe it had really happened.

_Ichi-nii, I think you should apologize._

Apologize? To _her?_ No freaking way.

* * *

Yuzu shut the kitchen door behind her gently as she walked over to the Chief Servant, her eyes downcast.

"Can I help you?" He asked, a bit too cheerily in her opinion.

"I want some green tea," she said, a bit sadly.

Two minutes later, he handed her a steaming cup of green tea. "Here you go, Madam Yuzu," he said, with a small bow.

"Thankyou," She whispered, leaving the kitchen, and making her way upstairs. Maybe she'd go see Onii-chan…

…she missed her footing, and fell down the stairs, smashing the cup of tea she was holding and slitting her left wrist in the process. Blood dripped from the opening, mixing in with the spilt tea and giving it a rather gruesome, sickly pinkish colour.

"A….a…aaaaaaaah!" she yelled, as her wrist began to throb, a small chunk of china still in her wrist. "Somebody help me!"

Rukia came running out of one of the side rooms, whilst Ichigo and Karin both ran down the stairs, having heard her scream.

"Yuzu!" Ichigo shouted, as he held her wrist. "Crap….you're _bleeding_!"

His sister was hurt, and he had to do something _now_.

Rukia ran back into the room she came from, quickly returning with a first-aid box. She propped it open, handing Ichigo the materials.

"Quick, clean this up," Ichigo told her. Rukia grimaced a little. That was the first time Ichigo actually talked to her _properly_. "Well, what are you waiting for? For my sister to bleed to _death_?"

What did she expect? Compassion? For a second…just for a second, she thought she'd seen a flash of vulnerability cross his face. Or maybe it was just her imagination…because his usual frown and scowl was there the next time she glanced at him.

Rukia returned with a mop and bucket, and began to clear up the mess, which was done within minutes. She watched Ichigo pull out the piece of china in Yuzu's wrist, wincing slightly as his sister cried out in pain.

"Just a minute now…it'll be okay…" he murmured, cleaning the wound and dressing it in bandages. "Now be careful with your hand, okay? You should've been more careful, Yuzu. What if something had happened to you?" _What answer would I have given to Mom?_

Yuzu continued to sob hysterically as Ichigo pulled her into a hug. "Come on now..." he said in a low voice, in an attempt to soothe her. He helped her up using her uninjured hand, and scooped her in his arms, carrying her upstairs.

Rukia wondered a little. How could someone who was so demonic towards her be so kind and caring towards others? But then again, they were his _sisters._ He had to care for them, didn't he? Hisana would've done the same for her. In fact, she had, when Rukia had fallen off the swing in the backyard and had grazed her knee quite badly. Hisana had cried and cried and chastised Rukia for being so careless and _made _her promise never to do such a thing again. But really, she knew that her sister loved her very much and cared for her. Maybe Ichigo just cared for his sisters in the same way. She couldn't help but smile a little. The way Ichigo had behaved towards Yuzu certainly reminded her of how Hisana was towards her. But then again, she couldn't really be sure whether it was all an act or not. She'd seen that look on his face, though. The scared look. The 'what will I do if something happens to my sister?' look.

Rukia stopped, thinking for a second, using her uncanny analysing abilities in order to gauge the earlier situation.

That book clearly meant something to him. A memento, perhaps? Or maybe a diary? That clearly pointed to security issues, meaning he was probably quite insecure about himself. That would explain a _lot_, actually…about his behaviour, mainly.

Or maybe he just cared for his sisters a lot, and didn't really give a damn about anyone else. Yeah, that must be it. It'd make a whole lot of sense though, since they were all orphans. Rukia shivered a little, thinking about how Ichigo's past seemed to be so similar to hers, assuming that he'd lost his parents at a young age too.

She was _so_ confused. Maybe she just needed some time to figure out what was really going on.

Huh.

* * *

**Mmmh, I hope you enjoyed that…the next chapter will be sliiiiightly longer, and better. I promise. Cookies & lemonade for everyone! ****Till next Monday!**

**~Tazski**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys, a nice early update from me ^_^ I don't think Chapter 5 was very good, and I don't want to leave it there till next Monday and have people think my fanfic is shit, or something. So therefore Chapter 6 was born several days early ^_^ like Chapter 5, I had to rewrite this several times before I was happy with it. I AM happy with it, I actually like it. And it's longer than the chapters I've been doing recently. So ENJOOOOOOY!**

**Plus, FREE COOKIES AND LEMONADE (or whatever you like, really) for everyone who reviews/subscribes this story! ^_^ Chapter 5 didn't really receive well, I honestly think nobody really liked it much (I don't blame you!) so I'm hoping this chapter will set things straight. I'm sorry if the chapter's a bit messy though, I'm quite ill and can't think straight, and like the fool I am, I STILL went into college. Even though my mum told me not to. But hey, I can't afford to take a day off right now...**

**Yep, am bribing you. PRESS THE BLUE REVIEW BUTTON FOR GUARANTEED HAPPINESS AND COOKIES AND LEMONADE AND RAAAAAAAINBOWS! You guys like rainbows, right? Well if you're a boy, maybe not...eh. But rainbows are cool! ^_^**

**I'd like to thank the following people: Lilikap, kyurikochan, Aletheya, Glon Morski, PikaDigi and Tensai-Teki Kuroneko for reviewing/subscribing :)**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach. Just the first 3 volumes, soon to be six ;) and of course, Bleach would have IchiRuki fluff all over the place and ICHIRUKI WRITTEN ALL OVER IT and stuff...so yeah. No chapter 490 today T_T it's Golden Week. I forgot what that is. Apparently, it'll be released later this week or next week..**

**And...RUKIA IS BACK. OMGSHOMGSHOMGSHOMSGH RUKIA IS BACK**

* * *

Rukia was scrubbing the table, _again. _Hang on…hadn't she already cleaned it before? Actually, she really didn't know. Damn Ichigo Kurosaki for messing her mind up. She glanced at the table, which was made out of rich mahogany, embossed with beautiful golden curlicues, which she couldn't help but trace with her finger. Elitist perfection with a full stop.

"Neat freaks," she muttered, noticing how tidy the room was, quite unlike hers back home. These rich snots sure were a weird bunch. After all, she only had one table at home, in the 'living room'.

The window, or rather, glass door- was slightly ajar, letting in a fresh gust of air every now and again. Rukia stopped, breathing in deeply. She loved the calm sometimes. The large, ornate windows- or glass door- (God, she didn't know which one it was, they only used bamboo screens at home! To be quite frank, she didn't care, either…) – revealed a luxurious, spacious balcony, the silver rails entwining around each other. This overlooked the huge expanse of grass in front- the gardens- with a cobbled pathway cutting through the middle like a large, scaly snake. In the near distance she could make out some of the well-to-do businesses, followed by the shabbier, poorer ones, which were visible as a speck in the far distance.

Rukia slid the 'door' (she'd just ask Ichigo what it _actually _was…on second thoughts, maybe not) – open, and stepped out onto the balcony. She couldn't help but feel slightly envious- she sure would have loved to live in a place like this.

The cool wind hit her first; she gently closed her eyes, savouring every breath. Rukia loved to wonder, to think deeply, just to be herself for a while. Her face was clear of expression, her bright eyes now shut tightly. She could almost feel the emotions draining away from her, as her mind struggled to empty itself…

* * *

"_Nee-sama!" Rukia sang. "NEEEEE-EEEEE-SAMAAA!"_

_It had been nearly 3 years since her family had been murdered, but 10-year old Rukia's earlier mischief was beginning to return._

"_Nee-sama, Nee-sama, NEEEEE-SAMAAA~~" Rukia continued to sing in an annoyingly high pitched voice._

_Hisana, who was lying on the sofa with her eyes closed, did not stir._

_Smiling cheekily, Rukia tiptoed over to Hisana, bending down towards her ear, and cupped her hand around her own mouth._

"_NEEEEEEEE-SAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAAA!" she yelled loudly, before busrting into hysterics._

"_KYAAAAAAAAAA!" Hisana shouted, sitting bolt upright, slightly dazed and disorientated, before looking down at the black haired mass grinning at her from ear to ear._

"_Rukia!" Hisana scolded. "How many times have I told you not to interrupt me when I'm meditating?"_

"_But-But…" Rukia blubbered, pouting slightly. It had only been a bit of fun…_

_Hisana's eyes softened at the sight of her younger sister, a hint of a smile on her lips._

"_Come here," she spoke gently, pulling Rukia into a hug._

"_Nee-sama, why do you sleep here sometimes, and upstairs at other times?" Rukia asked in the way only a 10-year old could. _

"_No, silly," Hisana replied, ruffling her hair. "I meditate here and sleep upstairs,"_

"_Meditating and sleeping look the same to me," Rukia pointed out. "All you do is close your eyes and dream,"_

"_No, that's not it," Hisana explained patiently. "Sleeping is sleeping. But meditation is freeing the soul. In essence, you strive to find your inner peace by relaxing your body physically, mentally and spiritually. Contemplation opens your eyes up to the wider world, allowing you to appreciate it in all its glory. It also helps you to rationalise with a clear judgement and help shape your morals, depending on your perspective of the world we live in."_

"_Uh…I still don't get it," Rukia said, scratching her head in confusion._

"_Well, in that case, I'll show you how Byakuya-sama explained it to me then," Hisana replied, standing up._

"_Nii-sama meditates too?" Rukia asked, curious._

"_Frequently," she admitted. "It explains why his temper's cooled down so much lately," and with that, she disappeared upstairs._

_Hisana returned several minutes later with a tattered box that seemed to include pencils, paper, and a variety of books and knick-knacks. _

"_Sit here," Hisana commanded Rukia, pulling up a chair for her at the rickety wooden table. She placed a piece of paper and a pencil in front on her._

"_Now, Rukia, I want you to draw a perfect circle. Put your every effort into it, give it all you have, do whatever you want, but make sure it's an absolutely perfect circle, to the last stroke. _

"_A circle…okay, then. But what about the stuff in that box?" Rukia gestured towards the battered box._

"_Oh, that's just nothing," Hisana replied vaguely. Whilst Rukia concentrated on drawing the circle, Hisana quietly placed the various books and objects in different places around the house._

* * *

"_Grrrrrr!" Rukia growled, slamming the pencil down. She observed her circle, which was still rather crooked, despite nearly 3 hours of practice. "Neeeeee-sama!" she wailed. "I can't do this! I don't even get the point of this!"_

"_Keep focusing," Hisana encouraged her. "I'll give you a tip, though. Think outside the box, Rukia."_

"_Now how do I do that? Stupid evil ugly circle," She mumbled sullenly. This was hard._

_Rukia glanced across the small room, looking for inspiration. She stopped for a second. What had Hisana said at the start?_

'_Put your every effort into it, give it all you have, do whatever you want, but make sure it's an absolutely perfect circle, to the last stroke.'_

_Do whatever you want…_

_Surely that meant she could cheat, right? No, cheating wasn't the right word. More like looking for guidance. As if on cue, Rukia spotted what looked like a empty, circular tin. She strode over to the bookshelf and picked it up, inspecting the edges. Perfect._

_Now, her pencil was getting rather blunt by this time, so she searched for a sharpener. It didn't take her long to find one, it was 'conveniently' tucked behind a dog-eared book. Weird._

_Using the tin and her newly sharpened pencil, Rukia began to draw around the tin on a fresh piece of paper. It didn't take her long. She stopped and observed her new circle once more. Perfect._

"_Nee-sama!" she exclaimed excitedly. "NEE-SAMA! I DID IT!" she shouted. Hisana came running out of the bakery at the commotion, confused._

"_Look, Nee-sama!" Rukia shouted, waving the piece of paper in her sister's face. "I drew a perfect circle!" Hisana's look of confusion turned to one of pure delight at her sister's success._

"_Well done, Rukia," she smiled, patting Rukia's head. "It looks good, doesn't it?" she asked, getting a nod from Rukia._

"_But Nee-sama…" Rukia began._

"_Hmm?"_

"_I don't really understand why you made me do that…"_

"_Well…" Hisana began, unsure whether she should explain to Rukia or not. "The circle was your focus, was it not?"_

"_Yes…"_

"_What you did there was identify that you couldn't draw the circle by yourself, and therefore enlisted help in order to achieve what you set out for," Hisana explained._

"_Yes….and? What does that have to do with meditating?" Rukia asked, still very confused._

"_What I'm saying is, you basically picked out the meaning of what I said at the start of the exercise and used that in order to help you achieved that perfect circle, did you not?"_

"_Yes…but?"_

"_It doesn't have much to do with meditating itself, but the rationalisation that comes from a balanced judgement,"_

"_Huh?" Now she was really confused. _

"_You'll understand when the time comes, Rukia," Hisana sighed. "It'll make most sense when you start making independent decisions. Until then…"_

* * *

Rukia's eyes snapped open at the sudden, abrupt end to the memory. She still didn't realise what Hisana had been getting at then, she only understood that it was important. Huh, maybe she'd understand soon enough. She felt a lot better though, and more at peace. Meditation- or contemplation, whichever it was- always worked with her.

It was starting to get rather blustery and windy, and Rukia still had a lot of work to do- so she walked back inside with a spring in her step, shutting the glass door behind her.

"KUROSAKI-KUUUUUUUUN!" Orihime yelled, waving her arms about rapidly like a windmill, attracting a few wary stares. "Over here!"

"Put your arms down!" her companion protested. "Hime, do you _really_ need glasses?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"No, why, Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime replied innocently, her grey eyes wide.

"That's _not_ Ichigo you're waving at…" Tatsuki muttered incoherently, attempting to fight back a laugh. Tatsuki Arisawa was quite the polar opposite to Orihime. Whilst Orihime Inoue had long, auburn hair, a curvaceous figure that most girls were jealous of- and that most guys couldn't help but ogle at unnaturally- as well as employing a very girls fashion sense, Tatsuki was stick-thin, pale, had short, spiky black hair, and was dressed in a manner that could only be described as boyish. As a result, many people often mistook her to be a boy. Not that she really cared.

On that particular afternoon, Tatsuki and Orihime were stood outside the only dojo in Karakura, waiting for Kurosaki Ichigo. Or rather, Tatsuki was- so they could hone their Karate skills like they did 3 times a week. Tatsuki, at the age of 19, was already a 3rd dan black belt, and Karakura's reigning Karate champion for the second year in a row- whilst Ichigo had only just got his first black belt 6 months ago. _Why _Orihime felt the need to tag along _every single time_ was a complete mystery, if anything. Though Tatsuki did have her suspicions.

"Orihime, that's _Inari _you're waving at," Tatsuki spoke sharply. "You do remember that weakling who Ichigo beat 6 times in a row? I mean if even _Ichigo _can beat him…" she rolled her eyes once more. "How could you mistake him to be Ichigo, anyway? He's _tanned_, for goodness sake!"

Tatsuki's comment was rather valid, though. Whilst Ichigo was fairly sturdy and tanned, at almost 6 feet tall, (still skinny though) Inari wasn't much taller than Orihime, and had sticks protruding out of his body. No, they were arms and legs. And he was deathly pale, as though he'd risen from the dead.

"Oh…" Orihime replied, pouting slightly. She _really_ wanted Kurosaki-kun to hurry up.

"Something wrong, Hime?" Tatsuki asked, observing Orihime's rather strange behaviour.

"No, No, Tatsuki-chan!" she exclaimed wildly in reply, flailing her arms about madly. Exaggerative, if anything.

"Ehehehehe…" she giggled nervously, before catching sight of Tatsuki's face, which had transformed into one of fury. "Tatsuki-chan?"

"He's _staring_ at you," Tatsuki growled, glaring at Inari, who was clearly checking Orihime out. "That stupid slimy _paedophile_…I'll wipe that dirty smile off his face…" and with that, she charged forward, instantly wiping the creepy smile off Inari's face as Tatsuki grabbed him by the collar of his filthy shirt. That was the thing, he never had a bath. Or if he had, it was probably when he was born. Animal.

"Yare, yare…" came a voice. "Are you beating him up _again_, Tatsuki?"

Dressed in a casual cream shirt and dark pants was Ichigo Kurosaki, walking towards Tatsuki, who then promptly let go of Inari's collar, causing him to crash to the floor.

"Urrrraarrghhh…" came the dazed reply.

"Checking girls out in broad daylight!" Tatsuki exclaimed, towering over a now cowering Inari who was gibbering slightly, her expression one of utmost disgust. "That punk totally had it coming," she shook her head. "Let's go?"

"KUROSAKI-KUUUUUUUUUUN!" Orihime yelled, quite literally jumping up and down. "OHAAAAAIIIIII-YO!"

"Uh…" Ichigo scratched his head, confused. "Hi, Inoue," he replied, unsure of what to make of the hyperbolic greeting. "Yeah, we better get going before Yoruichi-san kicks our asses,"

"Oooooooooh what are we doing todaaaaa-yy~~" Orihime interrupted once more, bouncing on the soles of her feet, surprising Ichigo and Tatsuki.

"Orihime, you ask this question _every time_," Tatsuki remonstrated, sighing.

"Eh…..!" she squeaked, dithering about nervously.

Ignoring Orihime, Tatsuki turned to Ichigo, grabbing his arm and attempting to drag him inside. "Come _on _you baka, Yoruichi-san's gonna fry our asses and eat them for lunch!"

"Uh…yeah, on it!" Ichigo replied, before pushing Tatsuki's arm away and rushing inside. Yoruichi-san was _scary as hell._

"Hime?" Tatsuki asked a rather sad looking Orihime. "Y'know, if you like him, you should just tell him. Or just shove them magnificent boobs in his face, I'm sure he can't resist 'em," she winked.

"EHHHHHHHHHH?" Orihime shouted, jumping about a foot backwards. "That's not it- I mean- there's nothing- but Tatsuki-chan-" she gibbered defensively.

"Ah, well, I'm goin'" Tatsuki waved at a very frantic Orihime. "See ya!"

* * *

"Miss Kuchiki!" The Chief Servant called out. "Come here darlin'" he said in his sweetest voice.

Rukia resisted the urge to smack him.

"What?" she asked curtly, momentarily forgetting her manners. He glared at her as if to say 'Now do as I say darlin' or else shall be the worse for you.'

"Erm…I mean _yes_ sir, how may I help? I'd be _honoured_ to assist you," she replied in her sweetest, most dangerous voice, every syllable implying that she'd feel nothing but disgrace at being forced to obey him. Then again, every servant in the manor had to respond to him this way. Being Chief Servant certainly had its perks. For one, they decided what uniform the rest of the servants wore. Currently, Rukia had to wear a tight-fitting, lime green frock that was mid-thigh length. If _she_ were Chief Servant, she'd have everyone wearing Chappy costumes. Now _that _would be classy. And incredibly _cute._ Rukia couldn't help but snicker slightly at the image of the Chief Servant wearing a Chappy costume. For starters, he was completely bald and had a bushy beard and moustache. He had a round, bulbous face akin to an Adam's apple, because it was red all the time. And he looked like the average butcher. Big, beefy man, hacking tools in hand, blood smeared on his apron. Ew.

This obedience was necessary though, for the sake of her personal vendetta against the Ishidas and Kurosakis. Even so, she was beginning to have second thoughts. Not about Ichigo in particular. But his two sisters, Yuzu and Karin, who were both very fond of Rukia. They were so sweet to her, how could she ever have anything against them?

'No, no," Rukia thought, shaking her head. She couldn't afford to get attached to anyone at the manor' it was imperative that no-one survived.

"I need you to deliver this letter for me, darlin'" the Chief Servant spoke, snapping Rukia out of her momentary reverie.

_Stop calling me darlin'_ Rukia thought, clenching her fists tightly. She _really _wanted to kick his face in.

"Yes _sir_," she replied, gnashing her teeth. The guy was _really_ plucking her last nerve.

"Delivered here by mistake, apparently…darlin'" the Chief Servant commented. Rukia froze for a second. How could you deliver here by _mistake_? Nobody else had a house like this, for crying out loud! What the hell was going on? The events of the past few weeks felt like a dream to her; real and not real at the same time. Strange, and unexplainable, and she didn't like it one but.

Unless…

_Unless…_

Rukia shivered slightly, as realisation started to hit her.

* * *

"Ichi, ni, san-yon-go, I'm so cool, dattebayo!" Orihime sang, (out of tune, of course) as she walked down the narrow streets, looking for an onigiri stall. Kurosaki-kun and Tatsuki-chan were _still _training and oh boy, she was _so_ hungry. As if to make a point, her stomach grumbled loudly.

"Roku, Nana, Hachi-Kyuu-Jiu, so I sneaked up behind you and yelled BOO!"

"Don't sing that freakin' song, it does my head in, y'know…" a passer-by mumbled to her. She _had_ been singing rather loudly…

"Gomen nasai!" Orihime exclaimed, bowing to the now departing passer-by who acknowledged her apology with a wave of his hand. She turned around and walked on, and to her delight, found an onigiri stall.

The man running the stall appeared to be in his forties; despite that, his hair was jet back and slicked back, and he had the vestiges of stubble around his face. Orihime thought he looked familiar…but she couldn't quite remember why. As he wrapped up her onigiri, she fished around her purse for money, and paid the man.

She walked down the street, still singing and somehow managing to munch on her onigiri at the same time, much to endearing stares from random strangers.

"La la laaaaa~~" she hummed with her eyes closed… unfortunately for a raven-haired stranger who was walking in the opposite direction to her, his nose in a small book.

This resulted in an almighty crash, causing both Orihime and the stranger to fall over, rubbing their heads.

"Aaaaahhhhhh…." Orihime whimpered. Her head hurt a _lot. _

"Oh, er…sorry, I didn't see you there…Inoue?" he asked. Orihime looked up at the stranger who had said her name.

Raven hair, deep blue eyes, pale skin, rectangular glasses.

"Oh! Ishida-kun!" Orihime exclaimed, going red. "I-I-I didn't mean to bump into you like that! Gomen!" Ishida helped her up, going slightly red himself, as he felt the stares of the public boring into his back.

"Arigatou, Ishida-kun!" Orihime said, bowing profusely.

"Err, that's quite okay…Inoue," Ishida replied hesitantly, unsure of what to say.

"So what brings you here, Ishida-kun?" Orihime asked, straightening out her dress.

"Oh! Eh…I was just on my way to the dojo…ehehehe," he answered, slightly flustered, pushing his glasses up. Talk about embarrassing.

"I'm going there too!" Orihime smiled at Ishida, who couldn't help but redden a bit more. Why was she smiling at him?

"Well, erm, we're here," Ishida added quickly as they strode up to the oak doors. He opened it, and they stepped into the cool interior of the dojo's reception, the door swinging shut behind them.

"Yay!" Orihime jumped in the air, raising her arms. She was seriously _weird._

"Aaaaaaaah, look who's here!" came the drawl. You didn't need to be an expert to guess who it was.

"Oh, it's _you,_ Kurosaki," Ishida said, rolling his eyes, as Ichigo strode towards the duo, still in his Karate gear.

"Looks like Ishida got himself a new girlfriend," Ichigo remarked sarcastically before focusing his gaze to the girl next to him.

"_Inoue?_ Seriously? No offence, but you have the worst taste in guys…"

"N-No!" Both Ishida and Orihime started, in an attempt to protest that things weren't as they seemed. However, they were interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

_Knock knock knock. _

"Kurosaki, get the door,"

"No, you!" Ichigo snarled.

"I can get it if you want…" Orihime's voice trailed off nervously.

"It's fine Inoue, I'll do it…" and with a large sigh, Ichigo strode over to the door and opened it. As it creaked open, he raised an arched eyebrow conspicuously, as he took in the identity of the person stood before him.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" he growled.

* * *

**So, who do you think is at the door? Free quadruple chocolate oreo cookies and triple chocolate cupcakes/muffins for everyone who guesses correctly!**

**Eh, what do you think of Ishida? I'm not sure whether I got his character right. I think I got Orihime spot on though, since she's so weird and crazy (like me) it's not that hard to write about her! I made up that weird song she was singing btw. No idea why I put dattebayo in it though, haha.**

**Bit too much dialogue, I think . but since I've been doing more description that dialogue lately, I felt it balanced out well.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it :) till next Monday! Hopefully :)**

**~Tazski**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, I know I said I'd update on Monday, well...I've been ill since I uploaded Ch6, and I fell down the stairs on Wednesday and sprained my neck and back and everything aches T_T so it's not been a great week, for me. But here's Chapter 7, anyway. I have mixed feelings about this...I'm not sure whether to like it or not! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.**

**On a more serious note...my final A-level exams are at the end of next month, and it's crucial for me to get straight A's if I want to go to university in September, so there's a lot of pressure .**

**As a result, I can't upload weekly chapters right now, but I will TRY my very best :) but hopefully by July, things should be back to normal.**

**I'd like to thank the following people: Glon Morski, hinataellis, WhateVerTheFUCK, Tensai-Teki Kuroneko, Asezuna, Lilikap, otakufreak95, HmmmLOVE, seijoutai, ichiruki3 and Dark Hollow Fox for reviewing/subscribing to my story! I"M LOVING THIS! Keep the reviews/subscriptions coming! I LOVE YOU GUYS ^_^**

**Don't forget to REVIEW/SUBSCRIBE! These make my day, and gives me the motivation to carry on with the fic! Also, you get free cookies and lemonade or whatever you like ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach. I wish I did. Seriously...I wish I did...because it would be full of canon fluff. Free chocolate to anyone who can guess what what SORT of canon fluff ;)**

* * *

"What the _hell_ are _you_ doing here?" Ichigo growled, taking in the appearance of a soaking young girl drenched from the rain outside.

_Rain…_

At some point during his training, it had started to rain; beginning with a light drizzle, before turning into a full-blown thunderstorm. As Ichigo took in the identity of the man holding the girl, he glimpsed a momentary flash of lightning, followed by a resounding crack of thunder, startling him.

"Well, aren't you going to let us in?" a dishevelled Rukia grumbled, now drenched to the skin. A sandy haired man with a striped green hat, dark robes and wooden clogs held her underneath his arm without any apparent effort, as though she weighed as much as a feather.

"Ah, hello, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara Kisuke exclaimed loudly, walking inside without waiting for Ichigo's response, which was one of disdain, of course. He plopped a disgruntled Rukia onto the cushy waiting seats, sitting down next to her, smiling from ear to ear despite being wet all the way through.

"Uh…what the hell is going on? Why are _you_ here, sandal-hat-and-clogs?" Ichigo asked the duo, scratching his head.

"Well…." Rukia began.

* * *

_Rukia walked along the wide streets of uptown Karakura, where all the rich snotty brats- no, Lords and Ladies, lived. She glanced at the envelope in her hand, which was made out of rich, thick parchment, and was addressed to: 'Yoruichi Shihoin, Dojo, Karakura,' in cursive, slanted writing._

_As she walked down the streets, which grew narrower and shabbier as she entered the poorer suburbs, it began to rain, freakishly slow at first, before erupting into a heavy shower, drenching her body and plastering her clothes to her skin. She quickly tucked the envelope inside one of the numerous zipped pockets to avoid getting wet, and ran as fast as she could, unable to see where she was going. _

_She felt herself collide into something hard, something solid. She squinted above at the object- no, the man, and a very strange one at that. _

"_Why hello there!" he exclaimed cheerfully, waving at her. "And what are you doing out here on a day like this?" _

'_Why on earth does he look so happy…' Rukia wondered, slightly apprehensive of the man._

"_And what's your name, miss?" he asked with the excitement of a five year old._

"_Eh…Rukia Kuchiki…" she squeaked._

"_I'm Urahara-san! Where you headed off to?"_

"_Um, delivering a letter…"_

"_Oh, where to?"_

"_The dojo."_

_Suddenly, for some reason she could not comprehend, Urahara-san went bright red, and started to laugh nervously, scratching his head, despite the pouring rain._

"_Ehehehehe….in that case, let me take you there!" he said, raising his arms extravagantly, before scooping her up with one arm and striding forwards to the dojo._

_Rukia, for the life of her, could not understand Urahara-san's eccentric behaviour._

* * *

"Ah- so yes!" Urahara exclaimed once more, as though he was having the time of his life.

"Kurosaki-saaaan!" Urahara exclaimed jovially with an extravagant wave of his hand, as if acknowledging him for the first time. Ichigo began to mutter incomprehensibly, shaking his head. God, the guy was an _embarrassment._

"How are you getting on, hmm?" Urahara enquired, leaning forwards towards Ichigo, stroking his sandy stubble with his forefinger and thumb.

"Uh…fine, I suppose…" Ichigo replied, frowning slightly.

"Wait, do you two know each other?" Rukia interrupted, standing between the two, rapidly looking back and forth.

"Why, of course we do!" Urahara exclaimed loudly, patting Rukia on the head, causing her to whip her head around and glare at him. "I'm his mentor! But…how do you two know each other?" he asked as though interrogating the two.

"We don't, actually…she works at the manor," Ichigo answered, annoyed, sighing and grumbling audibly, as Rukia shot him a warning glare. Rukia didn't need to be so freakin' _nosy_ for crying out loud!

"Oh, so you two are friends then?"

"Huh?" Ichigo replied, confused.

"Actually, we're not-" Rukia paused for a second, thinking. Why tell the truth? After all, the first stage in her mission was to befriend the victim.

"We're not friends, but we, uh…know each other," she finished lamely, earning a contemptuous glare from the Kurosaki heir. What else could she say?

Apparently, that wasn't enough to convince Kisuke Urahara, who glanced at Kuchiki and Kurosaki, as if trying to figure something out- however, the impending thoughts were cut short as they were effectively drowned out by a shout.

"Oi, Kisuke! Been a _while,_ y'know," came the jarringly feminine voice, with a touch of sarcasm.

"He was here _two days_ ago," Tatsuki, who at some point joined the fray of teenagers, muttered darkly, shaking her head lightly. _Men._

As the shadows around the occupier of the voice dissipated, a slim, slender woman with dark skin came into view. She had long, layered aubergine-coloured hair, which was cropped short at the front; almond-shaped golden eyes which were remarkably feline- and a busty, curvaceous figure, not unlike Orihime's, that she was clearly at ease with. She also wore a tight, bright orange overshirt, not dissimilar to the colour of Ichigo's hair- which covered what appeared to a be a tight-fitting black undershirt, complete with figure-hugging leggings of the deepest black, and light brown pumps.

"Ah, Yoruichi-san!" Urahara replied, going slightly pink for some incomprehensible reason. "It's _certainly_ been a _while_!"

"Yeah, yeah," Yoruichi replied dismissively, hands on her hips, shaking her head. _He forgot he came two days ago, didn't he…jeez, how embarrassing._

"Ehehehe…" Urahara chuckled nervously. "So, erm…did you get the, um…letter?" Urahara asked in a tone that was clearly an attempt to appear casual.

"What?" Yoruichi replied, scrutinising Urahara with one eye.

"Oh…uh, excuse me, Yoruichi-san," Rukia interrupted once more, causing the aubergine-haired female to fix her probing gaze on her. "I believe I have a letter for you…" she took the letter out of one of her numerous pockets, sighing in relief as she realised that mercifully, it was still dry, despite the heavy downpour.

"Oh? Well, aren't you ever so polite, miss…erm…"

"Kuchiki."

"Kuchiki?"

"That's right."

Yoruichi exchanged a quick look with Urahara, as though communicating a silent message- which Rukia did not miss. Did they know something she didn't?

However, Yoruichi's expression turned to one of intrigue as she took the letter in her dark hands, inspecting it closely. "Kisuke, this looks a _lot_ like _your_ writing, y'know-"

"Ah! _That _letter! Youruichi-san, maybe we should go discuss this _inside_… this letter contains information of the _utmost privacy_ after all…" Urahara gabbled quickly, clearly keen to get away from the curious stares of the five teenagers,

"Well, in that case…" Yoruichi began. "Tatsuki, you did great today, well done, Ichigo, you got your ass kicked, but you did well. Now scram, both of you," and with that, Yoruichi and Urahara left the reception where they were all standing.

"Tell the whole _world,_ why don't you…" Ichigo hissed under his breath, fuming.

"So, does anyone else think Yoruichi-san and Urahar-san have a thing going on between them?" Rukia asked casually, only to have four incredulous stares fixed on her, as if she were crazy.

"What?" she shrugged.

"You don't _know_?" Ichigo asked, shaking his head. She sure was stupid as hell. "They're dating, _duh_," he told her, placing an obvious emphasis on his words.

"And nobody thought to tell me this?" was her reply.

"It's none of your business anyway," he muttered.

"Who wants dinner at my place tonight!" Orihime yelled, startling everyone. "I'm making turnip and tomato casserole with orange peel and noodles, and for dessert I'm making celery and chocolate pudding with sweet potatoes!" she exclaimed excitedly, raising her arms once more. Everyone looked at her blankly.

Unfortunately, everyone present had some memory or the other of Orihime's…'unusual' cooking skills.

"Well, um…" Tatsuki spoke, breaking the awkward silence. "Why don't we all go over to Ichigo's, instead? I mean his house is bigger and everything, and we can get someone to bring us snacks and whatnot…and have a sleepover!" she winked, for Orihime's benefit. Unbeknownst to the rest of the teenage group, Tatsuki had a dastardly plan that she hoped to put into action that night. Ichigo, Ishida and Rukia all threw a grateful look at Tatsuki, somewhat relieved that they wouldn't have to taste her strange cooking.

"Heck, no way in _hell _am I having a sleepover!" ichigo yelled, jabbing a finger at no-one in particular. "You do _remember_ what happened _last time_, right?"

Of course, Ishida, Tatsuki and Orihime all remember Ichigo's 19th birthday 'party'. Everyone had gone crazy drunk and trashed Ichigo's room. Well, Orihime and Tatsuki had gotten drunk, and attacked Ishida and Ichigo, unfortunately. He hadn't had a 'sleepover' since. Anyway, sleepovers were for _girls,_ weren't they?

"Aw, don't be such a _pooper_, Ichigo," Tatsuki complained, throwing a menacing look at him that only a fool could have missed. "It'll be fun!" Of course, nobody had any idea what her idea of fun was.

'_And while we're at it, I'll set Orihime on you,_ ' she thought to herself, smiling, apparently satisfied.

"Yeah, that sounds great," Rukia agreed, being a fan of sleepovers herself.

"Who said _you_ could come?" Ichigo shot at her, frowning.

"Oi, Ichigo, watch it," Tatsuki warned him. "Of _course_ you can come…Rukia, was it?"

"Yeah."

"Whatever.." Ichigo shrugged his shoulders, sighing. "It's not like I_ actually_ have a choice, is it?"

"Uh-huh," came the chorus of replies.

"Wait…you too, Ishida?"

"It's in _your_ room after all," he replied cooly.

"I _never_ decided this!" Ichigo claimed, outraged.

"Who _cares_ about what _you_ think?" Ishida muttered quietly.

"We should get going!" Rukia exclaimed cheerily, striding towards the door and opening it. As the others filed out, one by one, she noticed that Ichigo had hung back, a little apprehensive.

"Well?" Rukia demanded. "Are you coming or what?"

"Is it still raining?" he asked in a low voice, which was indicative of the fact that he appeared to be unsure of what he was saying. Rukia stopped in her tracks. The tone of his voice was somewhat…different. Vulnerable? Scared? Somehow, Rukia felt her face soften slightly of its own accord.

"No…it's stopped," she replied finally, struggling to compose herself. "Why?"

_Why am I being nice to him?_

Sure, she _had_ to try and be nice, for the sake of her personal vendetta. But somehow, it came naturally to her, as though she _wanted_ to be nice. How strange. Perhaps she felt pity.

"I don't really like the rain," Ichigo admitted. _Why was he being nice to her all of a sudden? _

Maybe because she'd actually hadn't been rude to him for a change? Huh.

"Why not? What's wrong with rain?" she asked. Rukia herself loved the rain, and strangely enough, she found this intriguing. Satisfying, in a way. So the great Kurosaki Ichigo had his flaws, too. Like fear. Or something akin to it. But deep down…deep down, she could feel something else, something she couldn't quite put a name to. And that scared her a little.

"You wouldn't understand," he muttered, after a long pause.

_You wouldn't understand how I feel about the rain._

* * *

"Yo!" came the shout. Hisana looked to see a mane of crimson hair, a permanent frown, and numerous tattoos staring at her.

"Oh, hiya Renji," she replied, smiling. "What brings you here?"

"Is Rukia in?" he enquired.

"I'm afraid not Renji, she's at work," Hisana answered, a little sadly, Renji noticed.

"What? On a _Sunday_?" he exclaimed, shaking his head. "Since _when_ did Rukia become obsessed with _work_?"

"Since she got that job at the manor, I suppose. Kami only knows what that girl is _thinking_…"

A sudden gust of wind snapped Hisana out of her reverie.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, positive she had heard the door open, unaware that Renji had left, She walked over to the silent bakery, looking around for any clued. Nothing.

"Byakuya-sama?" Hisana whispered. "Is that you?"

A sudden flurry of movement caught her eye. As she turned around to see what it was, a small hand clamped over her mouth, whilst another pinned her left arm against the wall as she was pushed backwards. Realising that her right hand was still free, she grabbed the arm covering her mouth, forcing it away, before ducking underneath the stranger's now outstretched arm and pinning it against their back. Freeing her left arm, she released her right arm from holding the stranger's arm, using her left arm to do so instead, grabbing the stranger's right arm and also pinning it to their back with her own. Hisana forced the stranger's body up against the wall, a fierce gleam in her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" came a grumble. Hisana ignored it, fixing her eyes on the stranger before her.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" she growled menacingly.

* * *

Ichigo and Rukia walked in silence along the cobbled streets, which were growing wider and wider as they made their way through the richer suburbs, the tell-tale _splish splash_ of the rainwater echoing audibly beneath them, which had now gathered into a multitude of puddles. The day was overcast by now even though it had stopped raining, yet Ichigo couldn't help but glance at the clouds every few minutes.

"So," Rukia began, after a long period of silence. "Who was the, erm royal one, from your parents?" Well, she had to start _somewhere_. Especially as she had to befriend him now. Up till now, her temper (and his, of course) had only gotten in the way- but she was determined to put it all aside and succeed in the first stage of her…plan. Is that what it was? She wasn't even sure anymore. Even so, she didn't want to make any mistakes.

"Huh?" came the reply.

"_Dense,_ aren't you," she muttered automatically.

"Oh be quiet" he snapped.

"What I meant is…" Rukia began again, choosing her words carefully. "Was it your Mom or Dad that was royal?"

"Uh…my dad," he replied, a bit taken aback. Obviously not many people _talked_ to him, as opposed to say, shouting or arguing. Well, except for one person. But then again, he rarely talked to him anyway.

"My Mom was related to the Ishidas in some way, although I was never told how."

"Oh."

"So, what about you?" he asked. _Why on earth was he even bothering to talk to her?_

"Huh?"

"_Dense,_ aren't you," Ichigo quoted, smirking slightly.

"Oi, be quiet," Rukia warned him with a fierce glare.

"Or what? Pfft, _women._ Can't do a thing." He snorted.

Silence.

"What I meant is…" he began once more. "Well, you're a Kuchiki, right?"

"Yeah."

"So…was it your Mom or your-"

"Neither." The abruptness of her answer surprised him a little. "My sister married a Kuchiki."

"Sensing that the topic seemed to be a little awkward for Rukia, Ichigo did not reply.

They stopped as the manor came into view, revealing Ishida, Tatsuki and Orihime waiting for them, strange looks on their faces.

"Where on earth have you _been?_" Tatsuki demanded, scowling.

* * *

"What did you say your names were?" Hisana asked, peering at the strangers before her.

"Yachiru Kusajishi." She giggled. "And this is Ken-chan!" She slung onto the arm of the man next to her, who looked distinctly bored.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, his voice deep and gravelly. Clearly he'd heard this line a million times.

Yachiru was a small, slender girl, who couldn't have been older than six at the most- despite her obvious cuteness; she inhabited a loud, bubbly personality, in stark contrast to the man next to her, who wore a look of long-suffering.

Her most distinct feature was her cropped, bubble-gum pink hair (was it natural or not?) complete with a pinkish face, bright eyes, and a permanent blush in her cheeks.

In comparison, the man, even though he was sat down, was incredibly tall- probably closer to seven feet than six. He had tanned skin, complete with an assortment of jagged scars, the most prominent one running the length his cheek- callouses and bruises, indicating that he had lived through numerous battles and was a display of his bravery. His right eye was covered by a simple, black eye patch, inlaid with the darkest shade of grey. His black hair was carefully gelled into an array of spikes, each tip inhabiting a small bell on the end, overall a very intimidating and powerful looking man.

"Zaraki Kenpachi," he scowled, even causing _Hisana_ of all people to shiver tentatively. He certainly gave her the creeps.

"Ken-chaaaan!" Yachiru squealed loudly, tugging on the sleeve of his grey robes. "It's almost time to go!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he replied casually.

"Ken-chan! I'm hungry!" Yachiru protested. "I want some fried chicken!"

"Fine…but _I'm_ leading the way."

"No! I am!"

"Whatever…"

"Then we have to get you ready," Yachiru giggled once more.

"For _what?_"

"Ken-chan has a date tonight," Yachiru announced simply, causing Hisana to raise a wary eyebrow. _He_ had a date?

"Who with?" Hisana spoke for the first time in 10 minutes, intrigued.

"None of yer business," Kenpachi growled.

"Him and Miss Unohana are going to see 'My Little Pony: The Musical at the theatre!" Yachiru exclaimed, jumping in the air.

"Seriously?" Hisana replied, her tone incredulous, as she attempted to bite back a laugh.

"Only 'cos you threatened to yank out my hair and put makeup all over me if I refused," Kenpachi grumbled warily. "Let's go Yachiru, me wants some friend chicken!"

"Umm…by the way…" Yachiru began, addressing Hisana. "Gomennasai! I didn't mean to scare you before…I was just having a bit of fun,"

"_Fun_, my _butt_," Kenpachi muttered darkly, rising to leave, as Yachiru clambered onto his shoulder as she was wont to do.

"Oh, that's alright," Hisana replied cheerily, patting Yachiru on the head as the duo left the shop. Gosh, she was so _adorable_! But Hisana still felt guilty for accidently hurting the girl.

Hisana sighed, making to turn around and head upstairs to relax, before she heard the tinkle of the wind chimes announcing another arrival.

She froze, not daring to turn around, knowing who it was. She could smell the cherry blossoms, _his_ fragrance. Hisana wondered for a moment why she felt so…_different_ around him. Despite being married for five years, he still managed to take her breath away each time. How did he stop her heart in its tracks? How did he make it beat a million beats per minute, causing her to momentarily freeze in her tracks?

Hisana felt him approach, his scent growing stronger, heard his slow, deep breathing. She closed her eyes as she felt a pair of cool, strong arms wrapping itself around her, holding her close. She managed to turn around and found herself gazing into the mysterious grey eyes of her husband. Still locked in the gentle embrace, she put her head against his chest, listening out for his heartbeat. Sure enough, it was beating rather fast, accompanied by his deep breaths. Did his heart beat the way hers did every time they were together?

He leant forwards, his arms still around her. "Hello," came the melodic whisper.

"Uh…hi," she replied, her voice slightly shaky all of a sudden. "I'll go get you something to eat…"

"No, Hisana, leave that," he interrupted. The urgent tone of his voice surprised her.

"Byakuya-sama, what is it?" Hisana asked, sensing something was seriously wrong.

"Hisana…" he began hesitatingly, unsure of where to start. How could he tell her?

* * *

"Where have you been?" Tatsuki repeated, annoyed, after blank stares from both Ichigo and Rukia.

"Uh…" Ichigo began, scratching his head. "We sorta got held up?"

"Get in, _now_," Tatsuki hissed, shoving a confused Ichigo, who accidently ended up pushing Orihime.

"Eh…Kurosaki-kun!" she squeaked, going red. Ichigo could feel himself blushing too, as he rapidly backed away.

"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there, Inoue," he replied in a tone that Rukia hadn't heard him use before. Maybe he had some human compassion in him after all. Or maybe…

Rukia smirked a little. Orihime could do a _lot_ better, in her opinion.

"No-no problem, Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime stuttered, embarrassed.

'_Gosh,'_ Tatsuki thought. '_Why doesn't she shove 'em coconuts in his face and get it over and done with? This awkwardness is irritating me,'_

She glanced over at Rukia, who was still smirking.

'_Looks like Rukia is thinking the same, too,'_

"Inoue, are you okay?" Ishida asked her, blushing furiously as he did so.

"I'm fine, Ishida-kun," Orihime whispered, going red once more. Now she was confused.

Rukia raised an eyebrow, unable to keep herself from laughing. _Love triangle, eh?_

As she wondered, she became aware of the fact that Tatsuki was whispering in her ear.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." She winked at Rukia before walking away.

"C'mon everyone!" she called out, as everyone began to follow her inside the manor.

This was going to be an interesting night indeed.

* * *

**There ya go, hope you enjoyed that :) personally I think I went a little OOC with Byakuya and Hisana. But then again, they only appeared in a flashback as a couple once, I think. So it's okay to go OOC, I think...don't forget to subscribe and review for freeeee lemonade and cookies 3**

**What do you think Byakuya wants to tell Hisana? The subtle exchange between Yoruichi and Urahara? The introduction of new characters? Please leave your thoughts in a review! Also, any suggestions are VERY welcome.**

**Till next time!**

**~Tazski**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi guys! I'm sorry for the late update, I've been extremely busy...my final A-level exams are in WEEKS. In fact, my first one's next Tuesday T_T so I have to study hard and get the grades I want. But after that, hopefully...I'll be updating with more regularity ;]**

**And yes...I was suffering from writer's block... but it's okay now. I've written a few chapters ahead, and the best thing is, it's easier for me to look back and make the chapters I'm uploading even better. So I really hope you guys enjoy it :P and for some reason, I really, really like this chapter. I just hope you all do too x]**

**A huge thankyou to the following people for reviewing/subscribing: kuku88, WhateVerTheFuck, quietreaper, Glon Morski, Tensai-Teki Kuroneko, Lilikap, Hatexlovexo, LAWLS117 and Kage uingu shukun. Remember to keep the reviews/subscriptions coming in! The free cookies are still available ;) and maybe faster updates. Yes, I'm bribing you, and I'm not ashamed in the slightest ;D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, because if I did, RUKIA WOULD HAVE MORE PANELS THAN JUST THE ONE OR TWO IN THE CHAPTER AFTER SASAKIBE DIED :'( I mean seriously, where the hell is she? I bet Kubo's planning something huge with her...I hope. There's been absolutely no IchiRuki stuff AT ALL :'( I'M STILL WAITING! But..yeah.**

**Enjoy! And omg, this is my longest- no, second longest chapter to date here. (only by 5 words. No, it's longer now! See what I did there ;)) Including all the crap above ^**

* * *

Chapter 8

"Byakuya-sama…" Hisana whispered, her bright eyes wide in shock. "What does this all _mean_?" she jabbed a finger at the photograph that Byakuya had handed her moments ago. It was faded, the edges tatty, the smiles in the picture plastered and unmoving.

"It means…well, that things aren't what they seem to be," Byakuya finished, struggling slightly for words as he attempted to contemplate the enormity of the evidence in front of him.

"Where did you find all this stuff anyway?" his wife asked, slightly in awe despite the gloomy circumstances, pointing towards a small stack of yellow parchment.

"I have my ways," he replied cryptically.

'_Oh, of course,'_ Hisana realised. _'Byakuya-sama is an investigator after all…'_

"So these…" she said out loud, letting her words trail off into thin air.

"I'm not entirely sure what the letters mean," Byakuya admitted. "Only that I know that there's _something _going on. Something important."

Hisana picked up a letter from the crumbling pile, holding the stained parchment gingerly with her fingers as it threatened to disintegrate.

**"Dear Friend," it began. "I realise that the situation at hand is beyond ordinary measures due to the increase of what I would describe as dissimilarities. However, I have arranged for it to happen- this will be in effect seven days from now. I must stress to you the importance of success regarding the matter at hand- after all, this is for the greater good, and will ultimately help us both achieve our goals.**

**Sincerely, DH."**

The letter stopped there. Hisana realised that she was shaking slightly- what was going on? Who had written this letter? There was no address and no name, therefore that _had_ to mean that the letter was a cryptic message of some sorts, written in such a way that only the true recipient might have been able to decipher- as to not fall into the wrong hands.

But _why?_

And 'DH'…..wait, DH? There was only one man that she knew of who had the initials 'DH'…

"Hisana?" Byakuya asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, stammering a little. "Byakuya-sama…"

"Hmm?"

"Should we tell Rukia about this? After all, she does have the right to know," Hisana added defensively.

"She does." Byakuya agreed. "But I do not think it would be wise for us to tell her at this point in time. The truth might overwhelm her. Or what I do know of it, anyway,"

"So there's more to all this?" Hisana asked.

"I'm positive there is."

"And what about Rukia?"

"She's old enough to make her own decisions. Furthermore, I have been observing her behaviour lately."

"So you mean-" Byakuya cut her off.

"That's _exactly_ what I mean. I think we should let her handle her…thoughts and decisions by herself. I'd rather she did this properly by herself. Who knows what the truth would do to her?"

"But what if she makes the wrong choice?" Hisana whispered fearfully. She knew what Rukia could be like, sometimes.

"I'll do my best to keep an eye on her," Byakuya answered, his tone one of absolute assurance. "But in the worst case scenario, we will have to explain as much as we know to her,"

"Are we doing the right thing?" she asked, uncertain.

"Well…we're doing what's best for Rukia, after all. Although I can't predict what her response might be if she finds out _now_,"

"That's what I'm worried about," Hisana confirmed. "She can be judgemental and hot-headed at the worst of times,"

"Don't worry. I have a plan." Byakuya replied, confident. He wasn't about to let anything go wrong.

Hisana, however, had other thing son her mind now, primarily the inscription scrawled in the top right hand corner of the letter.

The letter was dated from 12 years back.

* * *

"So…what now?" Ichigo asked, glancing at everyone. Or frowning, more like. The five teenagers were sat in Ichigo's room…or well, everyone was lounging on _his _bed whilst he stood in the doorway, hovering about awkwardly.

"Yo, Ichigo, come in!" Tatsuki gestured at him with one hand, causing Ichigo to roll his eyes at her. Hello, as if he needed an invitation to _his own room._ Had _no-one_ here heard of privacy?

He raised his eyebrows at the sight of Tatsuki sprawled on _his_ bed, whilst Ishida was sat in _his_ armchair, reading a book, Orihime was sat on the edge of _his_ bed, whilst Rukia was stood on it, swaying slightly-

"What the heck are you doing?" Ichigo snapped at her, as she opened her eyes slowly, oblivious to the carrot-top heir glaring at her.

"What do you _think_ I'm doing, you _baka_?" she replied, irritated. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"That's _my_ bed you're standing on…why the heck are you _standing_ on it, anyway?" he asked her testily.

"I like standing on high things," she replied simply.

"That's just weird," he replied flatly. _Strange midget._

"Sheesh, touchy much?" Rukia grumbled, before leaping off the bed and landing gracefully on the soles of her feet.

"I want something to drink," Ishida complained, finally looking up from his book.

"That's my armchair you're sat in, get off," Ichigo ordered.

"But I was here first, so I have the right to use it. Now-"

"Yeah, yeah, stop nagging me you old hag," Ichigo retorted.

"Who you calling old hag, carrot-piss bastard?"

"_You,_ four-eyes,"

"I'll get the drinks," Rukia muttered under her breath, as Orihime gently covered her ears, as the boys began to bicker loudly.

"Uh…um, no, I'll get them, Tatsuki replied quickly, getting off the bed and shooting off without further ado. The rest of the group cast wary, confused looks at each other, all thinking the same thing. _Weird huh?_

"Erm…maybe we should play a game…" Orihime suggested lamely, breaking the silence.

"Like what?" Ishida asked, slightly eager.

"Umm…"

"Seven minutes in Heaven?" came a voice. Tatsuki was stood in the doorway, a mischievous grin on her face, holding a tray with glasses of orange juice and what looked like…

"Tatsuki, is that _alcohol_?" Rukia asked, surprised.

"Yeah." She shrugged her shoulders, before plopping the tray onto her bed. "So how 'bout it?" she asked once more.

"No, no, no, NO, no way in _hell_ am I playing that stupid game or drinking! You do remember what happened last time, right?" he glared pointedly at Tatsuki.

"You mean when you had to go into the closet with that ghastly Chizuru?" she smirked.

"Who told you to invite _her_ anyway?" he snarled. "Well…at least it wasn't me she wanted into the closet with her…" he grumbled, shuddering slightly, risking a glance at Orihime, who was slightly red for some reason.

'_What if…what if me and Kurosaki-kun…yaaaaaaah!'_ she squealed mentally at the prospect of being locked in a closet, _alone,_ with the one person she harboured some sort of affection for.

"You okay, 'Hime?" Tatsuki asked, before turning her attention to Rukia.

"Huh? Oh yeah…I'm fine, Tatsuki-chan…"

"Rukia?"

"Yes Tatsuki?"

"How old are you?"

"I just turned 18," she confessed.

"Good, so we're all of age. So what do you guys want? Vodka? Whisky? Tequila? Beer? Gin?"

"Umm…I don't really drink, Tatsuki," Rukia admitted. "We, I do, but only on special occasions like birthdays, Nii-sama and Nee-sama's anniversary, or…the annual Beer competition." She winked.

"_Beer_ competition?" The expression on Ichigo's face was incredulous. Ishida looked surprised too.

"Well…yeah," she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I'm the reigning Beer champion downtown. Downed 17 before passing out last year," she added with a hint of pride in her voice.

"Well, erm…I don't drink," Ichigo added hastily.

"Yes you _do_, Ichigo," Tatsuki glared at him.

"It can't hurt to have a bit…" Ishida began. "But he might try to throw me out of the window again," he muttered. Their last experience with alcohol hadn't been pleasant in the slightest.

"I only got drunk once," Ichigo protested, much to the amusement of Rukia, who was finding the situation immensely hilarious. "And it wasn't even _my_ fault!"

"Yes it was, you kept ordering glass after glass," Tatsuki giggled, in a manner unlike her own.

"I don't drink either and you know that, Tatsuki-chan," Orihime piped up, gabbling rapidly.

"But _Hime,"_ she protested. "You HAVE to drink, just this once. Trust me…"

_It's for your own good, believe it or not…_

"Well, I'm up for it," Rukia began, hesitating slightly. "Though I can't say Nii-sama will approve…"

"That's exactly why you should go ahead with it," Tatsuki winked at her. "Juice first guys, it's not wise to be drunk on an empty stomach. Trust me, it's horrible," she shivered a little.

"You said that as though you've experienced it yourself," Rukia commented, sipping her juice.

"Actually, I have," Tatsuki admitted. "Worst thing I ever did, really,"

"Oi, Tatsuki," Ichigo called out.

"What?"

"Can I have some more?"

"More of what?"

"That juice."

"Sure…"

Tatsuki smiled to herself as she poured out some more juice for Ichigo. Her plan was working. She poured herself some beer and began to drink.

'_To inhuman rebellion,'_ she thought, silently toasting herself.

* * *

"Tatsuki-chaaaaaaaaaan," Orihime moaned, her head lolling from side to side. "Can I have some more of that?" she pointed a shaky finger at the almost empty Vodka bottle, which Tatsuki poured out, audibly grumbling to herself. Jeesh. She'd had 5 glasses already! And she hadn't even had so much as the _sense_ to go anywhere _near_ Ichigo…

Ishida had fallen asleep on the floor, his glass half full of whisky, glasses askew, a slight blush on his cheeks from drinking. Ichigo was sat on his bed, mumbling incoherently to himself, clearly unaware for what was going on. And Rukia…

"Taaaaaaaaatsukiiiii!" she called out from where she was leaning over the balcony, swaying slightly, her words slurred. She'd had a fair bit too. Actually, that was an understatement...anyway, Tatsuki walked out to where she was stood, giggling uncontrollably.

"That cloud looks like a clown." Rukia snickered. Tatsuki sighed. It was a shame she couldn't have drunk too much herself, as she had planned to watch her now failing plan unravel- for she was quite fond of drinking.

And now that plan was crashing around her ears.

Earlier that day

_Tatsuki walked into the kitchen of the manor, grinning from ear to ear. Perfect._

"_Can I help you, Miss?" One of the servants enquired, winking as she did so._

"_I've come to retrieve the 'package', Valerie," Tatsuki replied, placing obvious emphasis on the word package. The servant named Valerie disappeared into the nearby wine cellar, appearing several minutes later with a cardboard box._

"_It has everything inside it, right?" Tatsuki asked._

"_Yes it does, Miss. But what are you planning on doing?"_

"_Watch and learn," tatsuki replied._

_She sat down at the large, wooden table dominating the spacious kitchen, putting the cardboard box and slicing it down the middle of the sealed flaps with a sharp knife. She opened the flaps to reveal several glass bottles cushioned by polystyrene , plus one carton of orange juice._

"_Why the orange juice?" Valerie asked, perplexed._

"_This isn't just any juice, this has tequila in it," Tatsuki explained, a devilish smile on her face. "I'm going to make everyone drink this and sit back and watch the fireworks. Pity I can't drink any myself, since I have to oversee this…operation," she admitted regretfully._

"_You mean operation IchiHime?" Valerie asked._

"_I guess so, if that's what you want to call it," Tatsuki said, as she picked up the tray of glasses containing spiked orange juice and liquor, and headed upstairs._

Only it hadn't gone to plan, of course. The group had never got round to playing Seven Minutes in Heaven after all, because everyone had kept clambering around for the orange juice, before moving onto the alcohol. Only the tequila had remained untouched- that stuff was incredibly strong, after all. And Ichigo hadn't so much as _touched_ Orihime…

She'd have to think up another plan. Or maybe not...Orihime needed to learn how to handle this sort of stuff herself. After all, she couldn't keep letting Orihime depend on her all the time. It was getting so darn _ridiculous._ Almost as ridiculous as the fact that she, _champion drinker,_ had barely had two glasses of intoxicants today. She grumbled audibly.

"Bleaaaargh…" came the distinct mumble, snapping Tatsuki out of her reverie, derailing her train of thought. She came back to her senses, only to find Rukia's pale face in front of her, a strange, lopsided expression on her face.

"Look…it's a ghost," she giggled, pointing to something behind Tatsuki. "It's a giant flapping ghost!"

She turned around slowly, not sure whether to believe that there was a ghost behind her, only to sigh in relief as the large inanimate abstract shape loomed in front of her, blocking out some of the stars overhead.

Tatsuki turned back around and grabbed a gibbering Rukia's shoulders, who was still snickering. Alcohol could do _funny_ things to you sometimes.

"Rukia?"

"Yeeeeeees?"

"That's a _tree_."

"Huh?"

"That 'ghost' behind me? It's actually a tree,"

"Oh….soitsatree…" her words continued to intermingle with each other, until they were unintelligible. Tatsuki put her arm around Rukia, helping her inside, and laid her in the armchair next to Ichigo's bed, which had been occupied by Ishida earlier. Rukia seemed to be calmer somewhat all of a sudden, she appeared to be more subdued, tired even, after Tatsuki made her drink a glass of water.

"Just relax for a while, and you'll feel better. Then I'll take you home," Tatsuki assured Rukia, who appeared to be sleeping. She went over to help Orihime up, who was still giggling to herself, and carried her out of the room.

"I'm sorry…my fault…" came the whimper. "Shouldn't…have let it…happen…" the mumbling faded out to be replaced with deep monotonous breathing, indicating that Ichigo was now fast asleep.

Still sat in the armchair, Rukia gingerly opened her eyes.

* * *

_'Where am I?_' was her first thought. Unbeknownst to her, Tatsuki had slipped something into the water she'd handed to Rukia earlier, sobering her up slightly. Despite that, Rukia still had a pounding headache- the beginnings of a hangover. It'd only get worse, and she knew that. She had to get home quickly. She struggled to wake up as she fought the urge to fall back asleep- but she knew that if she did so, she wouldn't wake up...for a while, at least. And Kami knew what Ichigo would do to her if he found her asleep in his room. She snickered a little. Maybe she should just go back to sleep...or on second thoughts, maybe not.

_'Nee-sama will be worried..._' she decided. Rukia sat up, only to realise with a jolt that Ichigo was asleep on the bed beside her, dead to the world. How embarassing. She clambered out of bed, glancing at the clock. 4 am. Hadn't Tatsuki returned yet? Rukia remembered dimly that Tatsuki had told her that she would drop her home...

Perhaps Tatsuki hadn't been able to wake her up, or something. It did seem rather plausible...after all, Rukia could still feel the vestiges of sleep clinging to her like an unwanted shadow. She looked at Ichigo, who was still fast asleep. His face was completely drained of emotion and that irritating scowl. He almost looked...innocent. Child-like. She shook her head vigourously, willing her brain to clear the fuzziness from her head, which only made her headache worse, and causing her to sway dangerously. She grabbed the armrest to steady herself, causing it to slide a little with a resounding _creak. _She whipped her head around to check if Ichigo had noticed, causing her neck to crick slightly. Ow. No, he was as dead as a dodo. Good. Innocent was the _last_ word she wanted to use to describe Kurosaki Ichigo. Then why was something nitpicking at her senses? Rukia decided it was the alcohol. Damn, that stuff could really mess you up...

* * *

As she walked down the moonlit streets, she forced herself to think. What was it about this guy that was making it harder for her to hate him? Her head was telling her to hate him, but her heart was telling her something else entirely.

_Im sorry...my fault...shouldn't...have let it...happen..._

Was he blaming himself for something?

More importantly...could she be wrong about him?

No, that couldn't be. There wasn't much to say that he was innocent, or anything different to what she had seen up till now. But something..._something_ was different about him. Something she couldn't quite place.

'Don't be silly Rukia,' she chastised herself silently, one hand on the door handle of her house. The effects of the alcohol she'd consumed was still swirling around in her head, making it damn near possible for her to think. She'd have to get a good night's sleep. Maybe she'd be able to think straight when she woke up.

_'I hope Nee-sama's not awake...' _Rukia thought, as she walked into the dark interior of the bakery. Not that Nee-sama would be MAD, or anything...or she didn't think she would be anyway...well, she didn't mind if Rukia stayed out late (much to Nii-sama's annoyance, who _insisted_ that Rukia be home at a decent hour like a proper lady. Tch.) but as long as Rukia told her where she was going, it was okay. Something which Rukia obviously hadn't done. Woops...

_'The coast seems clear...' _Rukia breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't in the mood for interrogations.

"Where have you _been_?" demanded a voice, as the candles came to life, momentarily blinding Rukia. Through her slightly blurred vision, she could make out a fierce scowl, hands on hips and narrowed eyes.

"Umm...I..." Rukia began ashamedly.

"Is this any time to be coming home? At _5am?_ I generally don't have a problem with you staying out, but-" Hisana stopped for a second, appearing to sniff the air.

"Rukia," she asked suspiciously. "Is that _alcohol_ I smell on you? Have you been _drinking_?"

"Uhh...yeah," Rukia mumbled guiltily. She couldn't lie to her sister.

"Bed. _Now._ I'll deal with you in the morning," Hisana commanded, pointing a finger upstairs. "And you're _grounded_."

"Buy why?" Rukia whined. "It's not fair!"

"Don't think for _one second_ I don't know what you're up to-" Hisana stopped herself, realising what she was saying. She hadn't meant to let that slip..."Err," she began, correcting herself. "Do as I say, or there'll be trouble!"

"What do you mean what I'm _up to_? I didn't do _anything_...oh Kami, fine..." Rukia replied sullenly, before stomping off upstairs to bed.

Hisana fell back onto the couch, her head in her hands.

_I know exactly what you're doing, Rukia...why do you have to be so irresponsible?_

* * *

_The vision wove in and out, sometimes taking on a sluggish, dream-like quality, and sometimes so vivid and bright, he couldn't decide whether it was real or not. A brown headed boy stood in front of him, his dark eyes wide with fear, his mouth gaping slightly. He wasn't much younger than himself, yet he inhabited a child-like quality that allowed everyone that he met to instantly warm to him, to care for him instinctively, and more importantly, trust him._

_"I...I have to tell you something.." he stammered in his boyish voice._

_"What?" the inhabitant of the dream replied, wisps of dark hair framing his pale, pointed face._

_"There's something I heard last night..." he looked around himself fearfully, as if expecting someone to intrude upon the two teenage boys unexpectedly._

_"There's no-one here," the other boy replied, his deep voice assuring. "As far as I know, anyway. Continue," he gestured._

_"Well...I heard two men talking...one of them was definetly the Ishida leader," he admitted. "He was saying 'Get rid of him immediately' and...and..."_

_The dark-haired boy trusted the other one well; he knew that he spoke nothing but the truth. "Did you find out who they were talking about?"_

_The brunette boy swayed a little, his voice shaking before he answered, scared of what the other boy's response might be._

_"They were talking about...you," he whispered._

A pair of slanted grey eyes opened slowly.

* * *

"Morning, Rukia," Hisana called out to her from the bakery, the aroma of fresh bread enveloping the house, a scent that Rukia had woken up to for the past ten years.

Rukia ignored her.

"Hey," Hisana said, placing her hand on Rukia's shoulder gently, her bright eyes soft. "Look, about last night..."

"What?" Rukia asked, her tone a bit sharper than she'd intended.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you...but look...I was so worried! When you didn't turn up at the normal time, I freaked out, wondering where you were. And then you stumble in at 5am, reeking of alcohol...well, it wasn't that I was worried so much about, just the fact that you never said you were going to be late, so how was I supposed to feel?" Hisana gabbled, her voice hysterical.

Rukia looked at her blankly.

"Rukia..."

"Fine." She walked over to the counter, picked up a slice of bread and turned around, heading back upstairs without a word.

Hisana shook her head, willing herself not to cry. Rukia was impossible sometimes. She followed Rukia upstairs eventually, finding her curled up into a ball on her bed. Rukia could be so...reclusive, sometimes. Kami knew what was going on inside that head of hers. As her older sister, wasn't it _her_ job to find out?

"Rukia?" Hisana whispered. "Are you angry at me?"

"Huh?" came the reply. Rukia hadn't realised she had upset her sister...and he hadn't meant to. "No...no, Nee-sama," Rukia said hastily. "I'm fine..."

"It's natural for me to get worried about my little sister...you know that, right?"

"Yeah..." Rukia replied, unsure of where the conversation was heading.

"Please, Rukia,"

"Huh?"

"Don't make things harder for me than they already are," Hisana whispered, some incomprehensible emotion in her eyes.

"What...what do you mean, Nee-sama?" Rukia stammered, feeling a little scared. "What do you mean things are _already_ hard for you? What's going on?" she asked, slightly puzzled.

"N-nothing," Hisana replied quickly, realising that she had said too much. "Come downstairs and get some proper breakfast would you? I made your favourite, too!" She smiled gently, ruffling Rukia's hair affectionately, much to her irritation.

"Where's Nii-sama?" Rukia asked tersely.

"Somewhere or the other," Hisana replied vaguely, her eyes inhabiting a far away look.

Rukia began to suspect that something was amiss.

"Nee-sama..." she began slowly. "Is something wrong?"

_Is something wrong?_ Hisana thought back to the photograph she had seen yesterday, the one of the four men, smiling without a care in the world. The one Byakuya had shown her.

_What had gone wrong?_

"Everything's fine, Rukia," she said absentmindedly. "Get something to eat quickly, and then help me with the chores,"

"But..I have to go to work," Rukia protested.

"No you don't, you're grounded for two weeks. Your Nii-sama's orders, not mine," Hisana sighed. Byakuya could be so...diplomatic at times. Order, honour, integrity, all that.

"_What?_ But that's ridiculous!"

"Try telling that to your Nii-sama,"

Rukia slumped back against the covers of the couch, defeated. Nii-sama would _never_ give in to her. Once he said he'd do something, by Kami he wouldn't rest until it was complete.

Rukia needed _something_ to do until then. But what?

* * *

**Hi! Erm...I'm sorry for grounding Rukia. I really am. Maybe I'll unground her? Well, I hope you liked that...in all honesty, I've never consumed alcohol in my life. I know people who drink, but I've never been around drunk people, so I'm not too sure how it goes. I hope I did okay x] and remember, constructive criticism and suggestions are always welcome!**

**Till next time folks,**

**~Tazski**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi! A nice early update from me ^^ I'd like to present chapter 9 to you. Uh, It's kinda short...and maybe boring, and I'm sorry about that. But everything's going to get intensely exciting from the next chapter, aka chapter 10. That's my promise to you. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. The weather's lovely here, by the way- a surprise, because where I live, it rains a fair bit all year round, pretty much. No, I don't live in a rainforest or near south america, for that matter! I haven't been further west than the west coast of the UK, lol.**

**Ahh, don't forget to review please ^^ I still have free st00f. Really. Yes, really. And your reviews make my daaaaaaay! ^^ and of course, it may mean faster updates. Click that lovely button at the bottom please :D**

**Is it just me, or is fanfiction really, REALLY slow today? I've had the same problem at home and at college...everything else works fine.**

**I'd like to thank the following people: Aletheya, quietreaper, AiiWoKoete, DeviantHollow23, WhateVerTheFUCK, Tensai-Teki Kuroneko, Lilikap, Hiddenigma and Glon Morski for reviewing/subscribing! Love you all :) and keep the reviews and subscriptions coming in :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Kubo-sensei does. If I owned Bleach, I'd atleast have Orihime murder a few people ...or mebbe not. I dunno ;D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Rukia, here's the shopping list," Hisana told her, handing her a piece of paper with various items scribbled on it in Hisana's elegant script. "Make it quick, would you?"

_About time_, Rukia thought, relieved. Only three days had passed since her 'night out' – or _in,_ as the case was here – and she was already going crazy, scooped in the house the entire time. Or imprisoned, more like. Atleast Hisana had given her a temporary reprieve, so she could catch some fresh air outside, which was surprisingly warm for April.

"Okay, Nee-sama," Rukia replied warily, disintegrating her train of thought.

"Take care, Rukia," Hisana said, smiling at her younger sister.

"Will do."

_Flour, yeast, sugar, celery, tomatoes…_ Rukia mumbled as she made her way to Karakura market. There sure was a _lot_ on this list. How on earth would she carry it all?

She was so absorbed in reading the list that it took her several seconds to realise that she had crashed headfirst into something solid, causing her to stumble back a little.

"What the _hell_? Can't you see where you're- Oh, it's _you_," came a familiar growl.

Rukia looked up to see the lanky frame of Kurosaki Ichigo towering above her, his signature scowl plastered across his face. _Heaven forbid_ if she wanted to see any sunlight, the guy was so freaking tall that he was casting shadows over her. _Jerk_.

"Ichigo?" She replied, honouring him with a scowl of her own, causing his eyebrows to knit together. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"…could ask you the same..." Rukia heard him mutter, just loud enough for her to hear.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing…so, uh…" he scratched his head. "Where did you disappear to all of a sudden?" he commented, noticing her recent absence.

"Nowhere," she scowled. God forbid he should try having a conversation with _her._

"That's right, none of my business…" he muttered once more, irritated.

"To answer your first question, I'm buying stuff." Rukia said, simply.

"I can see _that_," Ichigo remarked sarcastically. _Well, so am I actually, but err…I don't really know what to do, _he thought. No way in _hell_ was he going to admit that to _her _though.

"Need a hand?" Rukia asked, noticing Ichigo's obvious discomfort.

"What?"

"I said, do you need a hand shopping?" Rukia smirked, sensing that she was right.

"Who said I was shopping?"

"Why else would you be here? Since a guy like you doesn't need to waste his time in a place like this,"

"There can be _other _reasons too, you know,"

"Yeah, right…" Rukia rolled her eyes, and walked up to the nearest stall owner.

"How much for this?" she asked, picking up a cabbage, twirling it around in her hands, whilst Ichigo watched her with some amusement.

"130 yen, Miss," the man, elderly and sinewy, replied.

"_130?"_ was Rukia's incredulous response, her tone scathing. "Aw, come on, how 'bout you give it to me for 90? Please?"

"I have kids to feed, and I can't accept anything below 110," he replied sternly.

"95?"

"110."

"Tell you what," Rukia began, thinking quickly on her feet. "I'll pay you 200 for two of these. That sound fair?"

"220."

"I'm not paying more than 200! I did consider asking for 180 instead, but…I mean look at this!" She held up the cabbage. "It's yellowed around the edges and wilting! Nobody in their right mind would pay more than 180 for these! Now, Sir, you know I respect you, and we usually trade at reasonable prices, but this is as much as people like me can afford- and if you're going to rip me off this way, soon enough everyone's going to feel the same way and stop coming to you. Well, I guess I'll go some place…" she sighed theatrically.

"No, no," the elderly man waved his hands as if to stop her. Rukia turned back around, raised an eyebrow.

"Take both of these," he gabbled. "180 for the two…"

"Hmm?"

"Fine, 150 then! Whatever! Just…take them," he pleaded.

Rukia handed the man 200 yen, as he packed the cabbages for her.

"Keep the change," she said, before walking away.

Ichigo had witnessed the whole incident, and looked as though he was trying not to laugh. Nevertheless, he had some sort of dark, humourous expression on his face, as he raised an eyebrow at the approaching figure.

"Smooth," he commented, as Rukia stood in front of him.

"Well, that's the art of trading and bartering," she answered, a hint of pride in her voice. Obviously, she was the expert in that sort of thing.

"I wouldn't call it art, _exactly_," Ichigo said, frowning down at the petite figure. "Seeing as how you just tried to take advantage of that old man,"

"Business is business," was her reply. "He totally tried to rip me off! If you ask me, I was being _generous…_"

"You could've just _bought_ them as they were, you know…they weren't that expensive,"

"It doesn't work that way," Rukia snapped. "Unlike you, who can afford to waste everything you get your hands on, we have to think carefully a million times before buying anything!"

A guilty silence charged the air around the duo.

"Uh….I'm sorry?" Ichigo began, not looking sorry at all, clearly knowing that he had struck a nerve.

"You're so _annoying,_ Kurosaki Ichigo,"

"You're not exactly a ray of sunshine either," he answered, amused. He was clearly enjoying this.

"Ugh, I can't stand you!"

_How can someone so small be so freaking temperamental?_

"Well, that was some good dealing back there," Ichigo remarked, trying to change the topic, which he sensed was getting awkward.

Rukia glared at him.

"What?" he asked. "I said I'm sorry, didn't I?"

"Whatever. See ya tomorrow," and she began to walk away.

"You're coming back to work?"

"Probably." Rukia smiled, remembering how Nee-sama had _finally_ persuaded Nii-sama to let her go back to work- on the grounds that she returned _straight after _she had finished.

"Kay, see ya around then," Ichigo answered, slightly puzzled by the smile, before leaving.

_Tch,_ she snickered to herself, as she continued to shop. The guy really was a clueless clown. If he was so dumb…surely he had no idea what the real world was like, right? He couldn't help being a Kurosaki, could he?

Rukia had always been so sure of her hatred for all he represented, that she had never considered the alternative.

'_Why do you hate Kurosaki-kun so much?'_

Why was _that_ in her head now? _Why?_

'_Well, why do you hate only Kurosaki-kun? Why not Ishida-kun too?'_

God, Orihime. Even at times like these, her thoughts plagued Rukia's mind. Sheesh.

Well, it was easier to hate the Kurosakis. Traditionally, the Ishidas had served the Kurosakis for over 1000 years, ever since the appearance of the First Human Shinigami and the First Quincy, Izura Kurosaki and Ryouza Ishida. Since the Kurosakis had always been in power, it was simpler to believe that the Kurosakis had orchestrated Operation Kuchiki from start to finish. Sure, she knew that Hisana had never been too sure of that concept herself, after she had overhead Hisana's confession to Byakuya regarding the two clan insignias. Rukia, on the other hand, always believed that the misconception regarding the insignias were on purpose, as if to blame the Ishidas for the mass murder, not the perfect Kurosakis. There was one reason why she had always felt that way.

The Kurosakis had _always_ dominated the Ishidas.

Right or not?

True, she'd always hated the Kurosakis. But Ichigo could abrely have been that much older than her at the time of the murders, right? So what was _his_ fault in all of this?

_Whoa, whoa, steady there Rukia,_ she told herself. No need to jump to conclusions. One thing was for sure, though. There was more to Kurosaki Ichigo than met the eye.

And she was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

"Your Highness?" came a reedy voice, dripping with sarcasm,

The slim, white fingers tapped the marble armrest, one by one, in a rhythmic manner, as the occupier of the hand fixated his dark, glittering eyes onto the masked figure, as his thin lips curved into a diabolical sneer.

"What is it…my dear friend?" the man on the marble throne replied, his voice also heavy with sarcasm.

"Well," the masked figure began. "It's regarding _that person_…did you intend to put _that person-"_

A white hand was raised, as the speaker was cut off.

"Yes, my friend," he continued, in that cool tone which contained sinister undertones. "I had _every intention_ of doing what I did…because _that person_ has the _final key_,"

"The final key?"

"The first one is in my possession, as you very well know," the man gestured to a glass case, securely locked nearby him, which was encased in shadows. "Kurosaki Ichigo has the second one. And the third…"

"And _that person _has the third?"

"Indeed."

"What will happen if you fail…Aizen-sama?" the masked figure asked, curious.

"Failure is not an option," the man named Aizen replied, raising his hand to his face to brush away a lock of hair that had fallen into his blackening eyes.

* * *

"Come here, darlin'" the Chief Servant ordered Rukia, who stomped over to him, annoyed.

_Pervert._

"Now, sweetie, I want you to do something for me," he said in a low voice, his putrid breath reeking of tobacco, making her cringe and her eyes water. Seriously, he'd been doing this all day. It was a miracle that she hadn't punched him in his stupid face yet. She glanced at the clock, which read 9pm. Well, she had an hour of working time left- normally, she'd have finished by then, but she had opted to work overtime for 'personal reasons.'

Rukia climbed up the stairs, utterly exhausted from a day of hard work. _Why do there have to be so many freaking stairs?_ She thought, not for the first time. _Well, it's not the stairs fault_, she decided.

She gingerly pushed the door to Ichigo's room open, not sure what to expect. After all, she hadn't seen him since yesterday- weird in itself, because he was almost _always_ prowling around somewhere or the other.

A quick scan told her the room was empty; resulting in an involuntary sign of relief on her part- however in reality, she didn't know whether to feel relieved or annoyed, for some strange reason. She didn't really know why. Well, at least there would be no nasty interrogations- or maybe even if he _had_ been here, there wouldn't have been any nasty interrogations anyway. His behavior towards her had gotten a lot more…civil, judging by yesterday's incident. Which, admittedly, both annoyed and intrigued her at the same time. Maybe he was trying to make amends for how he'd behaved towards her in the past, which was odd in itself- Ichigo didn't exactly strike her as a guy who was willing to _apologize_ for anything. No, he, like most men, had his inflated ego to think about. Tch.

A flash of light momentarily occupied her attention. She looked to see the doors to the balcony slightly ajar, the dim moonlight glinting in the faded reflection of her in the glass. Cautiously, Rukia approached the door, peering through it to ensure that nobody was around.

Silence.

She breathed in the warm air, which was unseasonably stifling for April. Karakura's weather was unpredictable at times- sometimes it was sunny, and before you knew it, you were stuck in the middle of a blizzard. Not that she actually minded. The weather could be as unpredictable as a certain carrot-top.

Next to her was the shadow of the tree that she had once drunkenly mistaken for a ghost, which swayed slightly in the gentle, yet sticky wind. True, this way, the tree did have a very abstract, ghost-like appearance.

Rukia resisted the urge to climb it.

Instead, she turned around to go back inside, and began to clean the room, a million questions in her mind.

Rukia grumbled heavily as she slung her small leather bag over her shoulder, exiting through the large, silvery gates.

_The stupid guy,_ she muttered to herself. She'd just finished cleaning the room and had about 10 minutes to spare, when the Chief Servant came bustling into the room, wearing his ludicrous butcher's apron, and ordered her to go clean one of the guest rooms. The filthiest one, as it happened to be, unfortunately for her. She'd spent the better part of almost 2 hours sneezing- due to the immense gathering of dust in every dusty corner she could find, and scrubbing and cleaning, till the room was virtually spotless.

Of course, the moron had just wanted to torture her because she was the youngest worker. But she'd get her revenge someday, no doubt about that. Rukia never left anything well alone.

It was midnight by now, and the rows of silent houses cast huge shadows over her as she walked along the paved streets, granting her a reprieve from the now still heat. What was worrying her though was what Nee-sama would say to her- she'd _promised_ her sister that she'd be back straight after work. Technically, this was after work, but still, it was gone midnight and extremely late. She wouldn't be surprised if she got grounded _again. _She and her Nee-sama weren't on the best of terms after all...well, they were civil to one another, but after a certain...incident, even Nee-sama had wanted to send her back to work. Banishing the thought from her mind, she stopped in her tracks, certain that she could hear something. Shrugging to herself after a moment, she continued to walk.

As she approached the corner of her favourite sweet shop, she was certain that she could hear something- which sounded suspiciously like a gaggle of voices. Straining her ears, she attempted to listen to what was being said, but failed. It felt as though someone had switched the voices off. She risked a glance past the corner, and wished she hadn't. The shadows obscured the speakers, but she could make out two silhouettes- one relatively normal and human, the other monstrously tall, and looking as though it was closer to 7 feet than 6.

As the massive shadow began to move slightly, Rukia flattened herself against the wall, heart pounding against her ribs. From behind the corner, she felt the hulking advance towards her, its opacity ever-increasing in the dim sliver of moonlight visible to her…

_Clang._ The shadow stopped in its tracks.

The resounding metallic screech pierced the still night with the intensity of twenty-five razor-sharp knives, causing Rukia to grasp her ears in pain, her eyes screwed up. After a few moments, she felt the pain alleviate slightly, the throbs subsiding as she removed her hands from her ears, leaving only a faint roaring etched into the back of her mind.

That's when she heard the voices.

* * *

**So, who do you think the voices are? The hulking shadow? Leave your thoughts behind in a review! Also, I'm open to suggestions and criticism, (constructive of course) so don't hesitate to ask. The next update shall be exciting :P hopefully...**

**Till next time!**

**~Tazski**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, everyone! I'm updating this a lot earlier than I planned...simply 'cos I felt like it xD but I regret to say that this may be my last update for another 3 weeks or so, at the very least, since my exams begin on the 18th, and I have to study D:**

**I actually think you guys might enjoy this chapter xD I had a lot of fun writing it, hehe, since we're actually getting somewhere. Woops, won't say anymore. Read on!**

**As usual, reviews/constructive criticism/suggestions are ALWAYS welcome. These are partly why I've made it so far xD because I'm a disorganised person, and could never have put things into a specific order. Haha. And there's a lovely blue button at the bottom that allows you to do just that. Click it. I dare you. It gives you free food, too. Now who DOESN'T like free food, eh?**

**A huge thankyou to the following people: Lilikap, IchigoMoonCutter, Aletheya, Glon Morski, quietreaper, zgavreel, LeEldestHatter, and Tensai-Teki Kuroneko for reviewing/subscribing :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, it's characters, or anything...except for the idea behind the story itself, haha ;D and of course, the strawberry bonbons that Rukia adores. How can you NOT love those? D:**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_That's when she heard the voices._

"Attacking a defenceless man? How _pathetic _can you get?" came a familiar voice, rich with scorn. Wait, that voice...

What was _he_ doing here?

"Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do?" roared a gruff, threatening voice, following a rustle of material, which Rukia presumed was collar grabbing. There was _always_ collar grabbing. Unless you didn't have one, of course. She also sensed that the two people to whom the voices belonged to weren't alone. Sure enough, a third voice piped up-

"Can't you see his _hair_? It's kinda hard to miss in a place like this,"

"Ah..." the gruff voice replied, as though contemplating. "Now that I came to think of it, I'd recognise that carrot-piss head anywhere,"

'_You don't say...' _Rukia thought sarcastically to herself. Obviously, these guys seemed pretty dumb to begin with.

"It's that Kurosaki guy!" the reedy voice piped up once more.

"Or is it?" the gruff voice challenged. "Jones, you're a dumbass sometimes.." he sighed. "Well," he continued, addressing the 'carrot-piss head', "Whoever you are, you're in _our_ way. So shove it," he snarled nastily in a voice that was clearly meant to be intimidating.

At this point, Rukia decided to risk a glance, and sure enough, the said heir was stood facing the two men, donning his signature scowl. One of the two men- the man with the gruff voice, presumably, was tall and burly, deeply tanned, and had a squashed-in face, reminding Rukia of a particularly nasty pug she'd encountered not too long ago. The man's companion was reed-thin, his face resembling a shrivelling apple, bobbing from side to side. The tall man had grabbed Ichigo by his collar, pinning him against the wall- but he didn't look even remotely afraid of the man, as though he fought 6 foot powerhouses every day. In fact, he looked rather smug, as though he knew something the man didn't.

"Actually, you're in _my_ way," Ichigo replied, snorting. "This ain't your land, so _you_ shove it before I _make_ you,"

"Yeah?" the tall man retorted. "What if we _don't _wanna move? Whaddya gonna do _then_?"

"I'll show you exactly why Zangetsu and I tend to scare some people," Ichigo challenged, his composure fairly calm. However, the two men seemed unfazed by the threat.

"Oooooh! I'm gonna get my head sliced off! Mommy, help me!" the tall thug groaned in mock horror, dramatically waving his arms about like a windmill.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow conspicuously. "Are you trying to _tempt _me?" he asked, his tone scathing.

"Maybe," the shorter of the two men said, his tone light and nonchalant, as he strolled forward.

"Stay back, Jones," the tall man ordered, barring the shorter man's way. "This one's _mine_," he hissed, his eyes full of determination.

Rukia couldn't see much of what was going on, but she knew enough by now to conclude that a fight was brewing. She watched in anticipation as the two men circled each other, with Ichigo holding Zangetsu aloft, the other man holding some sort of spear. She was rather surprised to see that even in such a situation, Ichigo maintained a calm composure, not allowing his opponent's words to get through to him.

'_A far cry from how he behaves with me_,' Rukia thought ruefully, as she watched the fight unfold from behind the corner.

The tall man made the first strike, which Ichigo blocked using Zangetsu with relative ease. He continued to dodge several similar attacks from his opponent, blocking and parrying each blow away with increasing ease, still circling the man.

"Chicken, are we?" the man taunted Ichigo, who continued to frown as resolutely as ever, as he looked for a weakness in the man. What he did see was that the man appeared to be rather experienced with swordplay- but his style was rather childish, using the same moves over and over again, rather than using variety, like Ichigo did. Using the same moves was often spotted by a clever opponent in no time at all- and Ichigo knew that he could use that to his advantage. As the fight continued, he noticed that every blow that the man evaded with his spear seemed to be focused to his left side rather than the right- meaning that he seemed focused on guarding his left flank. He seemed to be acting rather defensive than offensive, as it was, making Ichigo wonder whether he was actually as strong as he looked. Maybe he was an experienced swordsman, but having a weak body got you nowhere. Ichigo knew that from experience.

Eventually, Ichigo got his opening, lacerating the man's left side as he held his spear aloft to strike.

'_Woops_,' He thought sarcastically, grinning slyly. '_So much for brute strength.'_

The man collapsed to the floor, clutching his left side, winded, and at that moment, Ichigo knew he'd hit a weak spot. What was stranger was that he felt hardly any remorse at hurting the man.

'_Some people deserve to get hurt,'_ he thought. _'And this guy's definitely one of them. Anyone who attacks a defenceless man deserves to be hurt the same way,'_

The man crawled away from him, evidently scared, and was helped up by his reedy friend, who struggled to support the man's heavy frame. Eventually, the two managed to sneak away, leaving a faint trail of dark blood, which glistened in the moonlight.

"There, all done," Ichigo said after a long moment of silence, dusting his robes. "They won't be bothering you anymore, I guess. And oh, by the way, you dropped this," he added, picking up a medallion off the floor and handing it outr to a figure that was encased by shadows.

The silhouette stepped out, revealing himself to be a giant, powerfully built man with dark hair, dark skin and dark eyes, who donned a rather extravagant flowery shirt. He took the medallion from Ichigo silently, slipping it around his neck.

"Hmm. Thanks." The tall stranger replied. Rukia knew immediately that he wasn't one for words.

"What did you say your name was?" Ichigo asked.

"Chad. You're the Kurosaki heir, aren't you? Funny, I never knew that."

"So what if I am?" Ichigo replied defensively. "My name doesn't really decide who I am, you know. And well...I guess I never got the chance to introduce myself last time," he added.

"I think I noticed that already. And well...it looks to me as though you didn't want me to know who you were,"

"So..." Ichigo began guiltily, ignoring the last remark and choosing his words more carefully. "Why didn't you fight back? I'm sure a guy like you could take idiots like them any day,"

"Well..." Chad hesitated before replying. "I was taught never to use my fists without reason," he answered.

"A reason, huh? I believe someone taught me that once too. Well, if it's a reason you need..." Ichigo's voice trailed off, as he pondered for a moment. It didn't take long for him to think up an answer.

Rukia could almost see the determined glint in his eyes as he replied, which were full of something which she had never seen before.

Loyalty.

"Swear to uphold the dignity and honour of my clan with your fists," he began, his tone confident. "And I'll swear to protect the defender of my clan with my sword. Sound okay to you?"

"Yeah." Chad replied. "That sounds fine to me.

"Well...it's getting kinda late, so I guess I'll be seeing ya around then. Bye," Ichigo said, with a wave of his hand, as he turned around to leave.

"See ya, Ichigo," came the reply, as the shadow began to fade slowly in the opposite direction.

Rukia stood transfixed to the spot, vacantly staring at where the duo had just been standing, a million questions in her mind.

_What is going on here?_

It wasn't the fact that Ichigo had beaten up a pair of thugs, or that he'd helped out a complete stranger that bugged her. Or maybe it did, in part. But it was more the fact that Ichigo- of _all_ people- had just practically admitted that he wasn't bothered about his status as a wealthy heir- or something of the sort.

Everything she'd known about him up to him seemed to be a lie. Or a farce, more likely.

Rukia wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she was fairly certain of one thing- the Ichigo she had come to know would never have opened up like this to someone he barely knew.

_Unless..._

Unless he was speaking the truth. Maybe being a Kurosaki was hard enough for him, especially as an orphan bringing up two younger sisters by himself, and so he needed some time to be himself. God knows, the public had certain expectations of him and he was required to fulfil them, of course. Was she feeling pity? Maybe. Maybe it was because she, too, was an orphan like him. But her Nee-sama and Nii-sama had always been there to protect her and care for her, never letting her feel the absence of her parents. But who did he have to protect _him?_

Rukia was feeling slightly guilty now, and she knew that. To formulate such a drastic plan before even getting to know-

No. She refused to think her plan was failing. Sure, maybe her intentions were changing a little, but her overall objective was still the same. To find out who murdered her family all those years ago.

She sighed dejectedly. She hadn't realised or even expected things to become this complicated. What she did know was that Ichigo's mother had died some 6 months after her family had been murdered, and she had a niggling feeling that they might be connected. The two deaths. But still, there was the _one_ thing she wanted more than anything- the truth.

And only one person could help her with that, ironically enough.

Kurosaki Ichigo.

* * *

'_How do I do this?' _Rukia wondered, staring up at the canopy of her 4-poster bed. '_Well...I can hardly walk up to him and be like 'Hi, I'm sorry that I planned on murdering you, but I need your help figuring out why my parents were murdered.'_

'_Actually that didn't didn't sound too bad...Nah,'_ she decided. That would be a boneheaded decision on her part. And God knows, she'd made enough of those already. There was one thing she wanted to confirm, though. Ichigo Kurosaki was an enigma, a mystery, whatever. There was a lot to him that actually couldn't be spotted with the naked eye, if the earlier incident was of any indication. What she needed to know was whether the guy was genuine. Maybe he'd already seen her sneaking around earlier and he had played the nice guy card for her benefit. _But he'd sounded so sincere..._

Rukia had the niggling feeling that even though she'd gotten to see Ichigo around and 'inspect' his behaviour in and around the house as well as out of the house, she didn't know him well at all. To find out whether Kurosaki Ichigo was genuinely a...good person? Was that the right term? – or just another rich brat, she needed something to prove it. Not someone. Of course, Rukia could just ask someone what they thought of him- but that would be too biased, in her opinion. His sisters and Orihime would be singing his praises. Tatsuki? Hmm, maybe, seeing as she'd known him longer than anyone. Ishida? No, he'd start spouting about what an idiot Ichigo was. Chad? No, he barely knew Ichigo. People's views as a whole were too biased, generally, and individual views, such as from family and friends, were too subjective- and would confuse her all the more.

So what did that leave? Oh yeah. _Something._ To prove his innocence- or rather, genuineness, Rukia needed something subjective, but not biased, something from Ichigo's own point of view, something that acted as a medium for his innermost thoughts and views-

Of course! There was _one _thing... how could she have been so blind? She'd held it once, before it was snatched out of her hands by Ichigo.

_His diary._

It was subjective, in his own words, and presumably recorded his innermost thoughts and views. Rukia knew that with a glimpse of the diary, she'd know what he was _really_ thinking. And whether or not he could be trusted.

But how to acquire it? She couldn't _steal_ it, it would be too conspicuous. If it meant to him as much as she thought it did, he'd instantly note its absence. And making copies of it was out of the question. So...she'd have to read it there. But_ when? _Whilst he was _asleep? _Besides, how would she open it in the first place? Ichigo kept the only key to the diary in a chain around his neck- and she couldn't steal that either, because it would be even more noticeable than if she stole the diary. Hanf on...what was it that people did when they wanted a duplicate key, but couldn't permanently access the original? Ah, that was it. The concept behind making a duplicate key was relatively simple.

For this, she'd need a bar of soap.

Now, the question was, when? Night-time seemed to be a plausible option. But wait...didn't he have an afternoon nap almost daily? No, that would be a ridiculous, not to mention risky notion. What if she were caught? He'd recognise her straight away. Whereas under the cover of darkness, he wouldn't be able to put an identity to her- and better still, she could use the darkness to her advantage to make her escape, if the need arose. If her constant watching of Kurosaki Ichigo- she _refused_ to admit that it constituted stalking- had taught her something, it was that he made nightly excursions every Friday. And she'd only just found out what they actually were. It was now the early hours of Saturday morning- 2.30am, to be precise, and he was _bound_ to be asleep...

Rukia silently clambered out of bed, tiptoed over to the bathroom, grabbed a bar of soap and stealthily crept downstairs, the wooden door creaking shut behind her.

* * *

She sat on the granite bench running around the huge fountain that dominated the front gardens of the manor, contemplating. She didn't think anyone would mind if she was found here anyway, even though it was nearly 3am by now.

'_Well, I can hardly walk through the front doors now, can I?_' Rukia mused silently. _Think Rukia, think. 'How on earth does Ichigo sneak out from such a big manor every Friday night, virtually undetected? Well, I'm assuming he's never been caught, otherwise I might have noticed something...'_

Rukia assumed that Ichigo didn't use the front door to leave, of course, and as far as she knew, his room didn't lead anywhere else...except the balcony. Oh, of _course,_ she realised, with sinking stupidity. Ichigo had a tree next to his balcony, something which Rukia had unwittingly spotted during her drinking session a few days back. Plus, his room was located at the far eastern side of the manor, the wall to its west jutting out, partly obscuring the view of the window next to it. And on the other side, the tree. He could quite easily slide down the tree and slip out of one of the side exists, if he wanted to.

She knew now exactly what she had to do. She flattened her back against the 10-foot southern wall, obscuring herself with the dark shadows cast by the moonlight above her, and silently edged along it, only stopping once to make a 90-degree turn anti-clockwise when she reached the eastern wall. Again, she crept along it as before, stopping every few seconds to make sure no-one was watching. Finally, she reached the tree, a looming, opaque shadow against the dark indigo night sky. With some trepidation, Rukia began to hoist herself up the tree, using the branches for support and as footholds to stop her falling.

_Rustle...Rustle...Creak...Snap! _A twig broke in two and fell- luckily, not the one she was holding. She waited with bated breath in the upper canopy of the tree, her eyes shut tight, and waiting for the furious onslaught that she knew must be inevitable. All she heard was silence. She dared to open her eyes, slowly, and to her immense relief she saw that nothing had stirred. The glass door was as resolutely shut as ever.

'_He must be a deeper sleeper than I thought_,' Rukia chuckled to herself. She clambered over the ornate railings with a final heave, landing gracefully and dusting her clothing, examining her arms which now housed several small scratched.

Rukia walked up to the glass doors, attempting to peer inside. Nothing. The curtains were drawn shut. Gingerly, she tried the handle, and to her surprise, the doors obligingly slid open a fraction. _He must've forgotten to lock it,_ she thought slyly. She stepped inside, deftly pulling the curtains apart, inch by inch.

The interior was cool, a welcome change from the unseasonably warm conditions outside. Rukia squinted, forcing her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room. She crept over to where Ichigo was fast asleep, lying on his back, taking deep, slow breaths, his chest rising and falling. Slowly making out the vague shapes of the various inanimate objects in the room, she knelt beside the bed, holding out her bar of soap.

A shaft of moonlight shone on his neck, narrowly avoiding his face, causing the golden key around his neck to glint heavily. Rukia raised her arm in line with the light to stop the key from glinting, worried that it might wake him up. From where she was sat, her face inches from his, she noticed that his face was completely devoid of any expression- even his famous scowl- softening his normally sharp features and almost making him appear...innocent. Name, status, dignity, and pride- it was all conspicuously absent. Humanizing, in a way. Rukia shook her head to free it of any thought, urging herself to concentrate on the task at hand.

Leaning over towards Ichigo, she gently picked up the golden key with the forefinger and thumb of her right hand, taking care not to tug it as to avoid waking him up. Then she slid her left hand underneath the chain, the skin of her fingers accidently brushing against his neck as she did so. It felt cool to the touch, and smooth, despite the warmth. For a wild moment, Rukia wondered what sun cream and moisturiser Ichigo used, before banishing the thought, forcing back a smile. Rukia had never actually been this close to a boy before.

'_Focus, Rukia,' _she chastised herself, as she freed her right hand and picked up the bar of soap, placing it over the key. Praying that Ichigo didn't move, she pressed the bar of soap gently onto the key, creating an imprint. Removing the soap carefully, she placed it on the floor next to her, before sliding her left hand out from beneath the chain and letting it fall gently. As she rose, Ichigo suddenly rolled over, facing her, causing her breath to catch for a moment.

'_Oh God...is he awake? Has he seen me? Crap...'_

Unwillingly, she risked a quick glance at the sleeping male, who appeared not to have realised a thing, his eyes still as resolutely as shut as ever. Rukia exhaled a sigh of relief, tiptoeing over to the glass doors. She slid it open slightly, before stepping out into the warm air, and made her escape.

* * *

**Sorry, this chapter was short compared to the others xD but there's more coming soon, soon as I'm done with the ghastly exams .**

**I hope you guys enjoyed that, and remember, reviews&stuff are always welcome! See you soon,**

**~Tazski**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, minna-san! I do realise it's been a while since I updated, due to A-level exams xD but thankfully, those finished yesterday. And true to my word, I've just typed up Chapter 11 for you guys :D**

**Ah, I really don't know what to think of this chapter. It's kinda jumbled, but kinda coherent at the same time, I'm confused. LOL**

**Anyway, do read it and leave a review or something :] and suggestions/feedback/constructive criticism is always welcome!**

**Thankyou to the following people for reviewing/subscribing: Hiona01, Aletheya, zgavreel, quietreaper, Glon Morski, Airi-Hyuga, Lilikap, cococamper, Kanrei, Tensai-Teki Kuroneko, CheezuKe-KiXD, franziga, and Everglory. Love you all :]**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach, and unfortunately...not IchiRuki either T_T (but one day, maybe. Watch .)**

* * *

_She waded through the dream, suspended between the world of the living and the world of dreams. As if watching from far away, she could see the memory play out, each moment striking harder than the last._

"_Ohaaaaaaaiyoooo Onii-chan!" young Inoue Orihime shouted, throwing her school bag aside and flinging herself into a dark-haired man's arms, who then ruffled her hair affectionately._

_Inoue Sora smiled down at his younger sister, the one he had raised by himself since she was born._

"_Hello, Orihime," he smiled at her, hugging her tightly. "What's for dinner?"_

"_Surprrriiiise!" she exclaimed, grinning widely. Sora began to laugh heartily, patting Orihime on the head, studying her. At 12 years old, she was already a miniature of the woman she would become, her auburn hair hanging down to her shoulders, bangs across her forehead._

"_Onii-chan, what's that?" she asked, intrigued by the brown paper bag in his right hand._

_He smiled mysteriously before replying. "A little present for my little sister. Close your eyes and hold your hands out," he ordered._

_Orihime happily obliged, swaying impatiently from side to side in her navy and white sailor-style school uniform. She felt something light drop into her hands, and she breathed in deeply, her senses tingling with excitement._

"_Open," Sora ordered. Orihime opened her grey eyes gently, savouring every element of the surprise, revealing her present. Her face fell slightly as she saw the two snowflake-shaped turquoise hair clips that she was still wearing to this day._

"_Onii-chan...what is this?" she asked, slightly disappointed._

"_Remember that day I took you out? We saw these in the jewellery shop, remember?" Sora asked her excitedly. "Besides, these hair clips will help your hair stay in place," he explained. "I thought they were pretty and would look nice on you,"_

"_But Onii-chan... I don't want these," she pouted, holding the clips back out to her brother. Indeed, she had been looking at them- but not in admiration, but rather in distaste. She didn't like the colour, it didn't match with the snowflake shape. Snowflakes were meant to be white. But of course, Sora had mistaken her distastefulness to be awe. _

"_...why not, Orihime? I bought these especially for you...you wanted them, didn't you? Please wear them, for my sake, at least,"_

"_No." Orihime was getting tired of her brother making these mistakes. He wasn't even sure as to what she liked and what she didn't, he was so engrossed in work, these days, that he barely made time for her. And nothing annoyed her more than her brother neglecting her._

"_Please? Just one?" Sora pleaded, wondering what he had done wrong. His whole day had been a nightmare from start to finish, and now his sister was ignoring him. The sister that he was sacrificing everything for, putting his life into jeopardy for. Unbidden, the cold voice from earlier came creeping back to him, sending chills down his spine._

_Do this and you shall be rewarded greatly...you and your sister will never be hungry...never will suffer...you do want to see your sister smiling, stop her tears, do you not?_

_He'd do anything for Orihime._

"_I said no! I don't like them!" she threw the clips onto the floor, and ran into the kitchen._

_With a sigh of resignation, Sora put the clips on the table._

"_Orihime?" he called out. No answer._

_She emerged from the kitchen some time later, placing Sora's food in front of him, before turning her back towards the wall, ignoring him. _

"_Orihime, at least eat something," he begged her. "Please don't ignore me like this, I'm sorry I upset you..." _

_She didn't move._

_Morning came and went, yet the tension between the siblings was as cold as ice, as blustery as a winter's day. Yet Orihime continued to ignore Sora with resolute indifference, refusing to acknowledge him._

"_Orihime, won't you tell me to have a good day at work?" Sora asked her, his voice tinged with sadness, as he adjusted his tie and picked up his briefcase, ready to depart for work._

_She ignored him._

_Orihime ran as fast as her legs would carry her, fearing the worst, praying for what surely was the impossible._

"_Your brother met with a serious accident," the paramedic had told her as she had burst into her home, her bright hair flying wildly after being taken out of school. "He's being taken to a hospital as we speak-"_

_She hadn't listened to anymore, and had rushed back out. As the sterile white tiles of the hospital came into the view, she saw a white stretcher emerging from nearby, carrying a familiar figure._

"_ONII-CHAN!" she screamed, pushing away the paramedics, of which one was vaguely recognisable- the owner and head doctor of the hospital, Ishida Ryuuken. "ONII-CHAN!"_

_Orihime could only recognise the body by the shock of dark brown hair framing the face. The skin was pale, the eyes closed, and the blood was flowing out from a small gaping hole in the middle of the chest, the rest of the torso and legs being splattered by flecks of blood. In that moment, Orihime knew that the inevitable had happened, and the tears began to flow endlessly._

"_I'm sorry Onii-chan...sorry that I couldn't tell you to have a good day..."_

_With that, Inoue Orihime's eyes snapped open, a tear trickling down her cheek._

* * *

"Nee-sama, I'm leaving," Rukia called out to her sister, as she adjusted the strap of her bag and hoisted it over her shoulder. "See you later!"

"Okay Rukia, take care!" she called back, as she plopped a hot loaf of bread onto the counter, wrapping it up carefully. "Here you go, sir," she said, handing the customer the package. "Freshly made,"

"Thankyou ma'am," he replied before leaving the shop, the familiar twinkling door chime announcing his departure.

Hisana walked over to the sink, where the pile of dishes was steadily growing. Picking up a plate, she began to scrub slowly, her eyes inhabiting a rapt, yet faraway look, the memory of last night rushing back to her...

"Hisana?"

She turned around to see her husband leaning on the counter, his face devoid of emotion, his steely eyes monotonous. Despite that, his voice was gentle, soft.

"Are you okay?" he asked. He'd been asking her that a lot lately, considering the possible ramifications of the evidence they'd unearthed days earlier.

"Byakuya-sama..." Hisana began hesitatingly. Then, in a low tone, she described the events of the previous night.

_Upstairs, Hisana's eyes snapped open._

_She was certain that she had heard the door shut, followed by faint creaking and some shuffling, yet she still felt as though she was in a dream; her movements felt slow, sluggish, yet fluid. She sat up in bed, as to not wake her companion, who was still asleep, his serene face exuding rays of calmness. Gingerly, Hisana climbed out of bed, and walked over to where Rukia slept._

_At the sight of her younger sister, Hisana couldn't help but smile. Her covers were pulled up to her face, her hands clamped over the sheets as though trying to protect herself from something or someone. Rukia's face was a mask of tranquillity, something Hisana rarely saw in her sister. She looked just like a black-haired angel._

_Deciding that the noise she had heard earlier was a figment of her imagination, she turned around to go back to bed, before a glint in the moonlight caught her eye. Her eyes traced the source of the glistening before coming to rest on Rukia's makeshift bedside table. Hisana walked up to the table and picked up the glinting object, carefully turning it over in her hands. It felt smooth and cool to the touch; and by running a light finger over it, Hisana acknowledged that the object was a cuboid, with one of the wider faces occupying some sort of deep indent in the middle. Tiptoeing over to the small balcony, she quietly slid the door open, scrutinizing the object in the steady glare of the moon. The moon accentuated the features of the object, which was now giving off an almost ethereal glow due to its transparency, allowing Hisana to recognise it for what it really was. A bar of soap with the indent of a key._

_What the hell is she up to? Hisana wondered, initially intending to confront Rukia in the morning, before the impact hit her._

_This was no ordinary key imprint. On closer inspection, Hisana saw that the imprint was too small to be that of an ordinary key- and one that she certainly did not possess. But why was Rukia making the imprint of such a key? To forge a duplicate? Forging an imprint like this looked damn near impossible to her, at least- it seemed antique to her, the sort of key you'd find in a wealthy household..._

_Whatever Rukia was up to, Hisana didn't want to interrupt; whatever it was, she had to do it by herself. And she had a funny feeling she knew what Rukia was designed to open. Warily, she glanced at the moon._

I think I know what that key opens," Hisana said to Byakuya, who was still showing no kind of emotion.

"Hisana, did Rukia leave already?" he asked her instead.

"Yes, she did, and I know she doesn't start till 10 today. It's still only 8 or so,"

"In that case...she's likely to go and forge the key first before going to work," Byakuya said thoughtfully.

"Byakuya-sama..." Hisana began, hesitating, not sure whether to voice her observations aloud. She decided to follow her instinct.

"Yes?"

"I've seen that key before," she said, gulping. "Around Kurosaki Ichigo's neck,"

"Are you sure?" Byakuya asked, putting his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Positive," she replied. "I saw it the day he came into the bakery,"

"And if it's around his neck..." Both were silent, before Hisana spoke again, her tone defiant.

"It must open something of his. Something personal...like a diary, perhaps."

_I only hope that this doesn't get her into trouble, _Hisana thought.

* * *

"How long will it take?" Rukia asked the key forger impatiently, tapping her foot as she did so.

"About an hour, ma'am," the key forger replied dutifully, taking the bar of soap from Rukia. "Hey, isn't this-"

"Just do as I say, and quick," Rukia snapped quickly. "I'm paying you double, aren't I?"

"Yes, ma'am," the key forger replied sullenly.

"I'll be back," she muttered. As she had at least an hour or so with nothing to do, she decided to go back home for a little while.

As she stepped into the cool house, she realised it was silent. _Too _silent. Where was Nee-sama and Nii-sama? Rukia was about to turn around and walk back out, when she caught sight of _something._

A piece of yellowing parchment. Her curiosity piqued, she tugged at it, revealing it to be a letter of some sort. Once more, a recent memory floated back to her...

"_Nee-sama, I'm bored," Rukia moaned, swinging her legs. "There's nothing to do here!"_

_Hisana sighed, shaking her head. "That's not really my problem, it's your Nii-sama's. After all, he's the one who decided to ground you,"_

"_But I need something to do,"_

"_Go read a book, or something,"_

"_I've read them all,"_

"_Well...I have to serve customers. Come and help me in a bit, will you?"_

"_Yes, Nee-sama," Rukia replied, bored. She ran upstairs, pulling out drawers, looking for a book to read or something to do. Just as she was about to shut the cupboard door, finding nothing of interest, a stack of what looked like paper caught her attention. She picked one off the top, and began to read carefully, growing red as she realised that it was a love letter from her Nii-sama to her Nee-sama, from approximately 10 years ago. Feeling that it would be unwise to intrude on their privacy, Rukia rose to shut the door, before another piece of paper caught her attention- this one standing out. She tugged at it, eventually pulling it out. It was a piece of parchment, very yellowed and faded, and lowered her eyes to the writing-_

_She felt a tug as the parchment was snatched out of her hand, and looked up, only to see her sister stood in front of her, furious. But more than furious, she looked...scared._

"_What are you doing here? I told you not to touch my things, didn't I?" she demanded._

"_I...I was just...just looking for something and-"_

"_I don't care what you excuse is, Rukia, you shouldn't be looking through my things,"_

"_I honestly didn't mean to-"_

"_Just...just go out for a while," Hisana ordered her, looking slightly fed up. "Get some fresh air. And from tomorrow, you're going back to work, there's no point in you moping around here all day,"_

And that had been that- she had gone back to work the next day, without a word from her sister. She hadn't known why Hisana had gotten so man over a ragged piece of parchment- but she did realise that it must have been something important, and big, for it to be hidden from her this way.

Jolting back to the present, Rukia quickly scanned the parchment, frowning slightly- what was this letter doing here, in the first place? It didn't look important at all, not to her anyway. She was about to discard it, when she noticed two things. One was the date- some 12 years previously. The other was the initials- DH.

DH. Daniel _Houshin._

Rukia's eyes widened as the revelation fell in place.

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo strode down the corridor, furious and fuming. Who the hell did Ishida think he was to nag him like that? _He didn't know where the Quincy armband was, for Kami's sake! _As if he'd _want _to steal it. Tch. Ishida had been constantly bugging him for weeks now- as though it would turn up if he kept pestering him. As if.

He abruptly stopped as he heard a gaggle of voices- or rather; it was two voices, conversing in loud whispers in one of the guest rooms, who Ichigo realised, with a jolt, belonged to Ishida Ryuuken and the Chief Servant.

"I cannot condone this, Gerald," Ryuuken was saying. "It has to be when he comes of age, do you hear me?"

"But _sir_," Gerald replied, frustrated, in his deep voice. "Why not both of them? And why not _now_?"

"Because we will lose everything," Ryuuken demanded impatiently. "If we take the other one, we will lose it all. If we take _him,_ we will _still _lose it all, until this happens when the time comes. How many times to I have to _explain_ it to you? When will it sink into that thick skull of yours? Your butcher's knife won't make things end well," He hissed, his voice impatient as he emphasised his words.

Ichigo shuffled a little, having cramp in his foot- but that only resulted in a loud _thud _as his shoes kicked against the wall. The voices stopped abruptly, acknowledging the noise, as a flurry of footsteps was heard, and then...

Ichigo flung himself against the wall as the door flew open, with Ryuuken striding out, the Chief Servant following behind.

"But sir-" he protested loudly, only to be cut off by Ryuuken.

"Not a _word_," he hissed to the Chief Servant. "Get back to work,"

Ichigo realised he'd been holding his breath most of the time, so he let it out, breathing deeply, hardly daring to believe what had just happened.

_What had he just heard?_

As he walked down the corridor and into the brightly lit, opulent hallway, he calmly began to think, but ended up sighing, frustrated, as he failed to come up with a logical answer. None of it was making sense, not at all.

_Well, maybe my family didn't have time to teach me manners, thanks to yours!_

Why was he thinking of that _now? _But somehow...he had a niggling feeling that it was all connected. The Kuchiki murders. His Mom's death. Dad's disappearance. And more disturbingly, the reason why he was treated more reverently than the Ishida clan, who most people these days believed was the sole clan in power. It was as though even the citizens knew something he didn't.

The earlier conversation had disturbed him, but there was one thing he wanted to check first. Dashing back up the stairs and into his room, he threw open the door to his cupboard, retrieved his diary, and opened it using the key around his neck. Weirdly enough, it smelt like soap. He must've got some on him while taking a shower earlier, or something. But hadn't he taken it off? Nevertheless, he flicked open the diary to one of the earlier entries, and tucking his mother's handwritten note aside, he began to scan the page. Sure enough, the words were there, in his scrawling, barely legible 9-year old handwriting.

Slowly, the pieces began to fall into place.

Kurosaki Ichigo knew that something strange was going on, and was adamant to find out what. He'd have to research the events of 10 years ago and with ample time on his hands, it seemed feasible- all the events, bar one, which he wouldn't be able to do by himself.

For that, he needed the help of a certain person.

Kuchiki Rukia.

But the question was, would she trust him? More importantly...could he trust her?

* * *

The man called Aizen stood up, the faint swish of his billowing, snow-white robes audible in the echoing, nocturnal chamber.

"Is it time yet?" his dark-skinned companion asked.

"Almost," Aizen crooned, his tone seductive. "Soon, we shall be in possession of _all three keys_."

As if on cue, a flash of light blazed from hthe right, momentarily blinding Aizen's silver-haired companion, causing him to crack his eyelids open.

"Yare, yare," he said, a trace of humour in his voice, his turquoise eyes inquisitive and probing. "Impatient, are we?"

"This _key_ is only the beginning..." Aizen murmured, stroking the glass encasing the 'key', the outline of some sort of weapon still glowing from the earlier flash. "One of the two _Ancient Elements_,"

"Is it the real thing?" the silver-haired man asked.

"Yes, Gin...indeed it is. Our dear friend Mayuri confirmed it this morning," Aizen explained. "Ah, Tousen?" he asked, turning towards his silent, dark-skinned companion. "Bring in our..._informant,_ will you?"

He complied, leaving the chamber in a flurry of silence. He returned within moments, bringing with him a pale man with long, dark hair.

"Give us the good news," Aizen ordered. The man obeyed.

"I can confirm that the other two keys are indeed in Karakura," the man spoke, his deep voice monotonous and silky. "They are believed to be in close proximity to each other, and having seen one of them, I can hereby confirm the existence of one, at least.

"The Ancient Elements..." Aizen murmured, oblivious to the stares of his audience. "Soon, they all shall be reunited once more,"

In front of him, the informant's slanted grey eyes glimmered.

* * *

**So, who do you think the informant is? O_o sorry if the chapter was a little jumbled, I just needed to make a few important points :P**

**Well, I do hope you enjoyed that, and with some luck, I will be back to updating regularly from now on ^_^ and remember, reviews, and any suggestions/feedback/constructive criticism is always welcome :D**

**Till next time~**

**~Tazski.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Wow, I really let myself go this time...I'm so sorry everyone for taking so long to update! You see, I meant to update about a week after Chapter 11, but I fell ill, then my mum fell ill and I was caring for her, then I got so busy, I lost track of time . and today I finally found some free time to catch up on my stories. So ta-da, here's chapter 12! I promise to update after my A-level results day on the 16th. Wish me luck! (I really need it, haha)**

**W.O.W. 13 reviews for the last chapter! Woohoo, you guys broke another record ;D I've never had 13 reviews for an entire story before this. never mind a single chapter! Thankyou all so much! As usual, I'd like to thank the following people: Aletheya, Kanrei, zgavreel, quietreaper, , Mikon Youji, nonok, spiritgirl1, purplepam, DinieLuvYunho, and the two guests who also reviewed. I'd like to say a very special thankyou to _Lilikap,_ _Glon Morski_ and ****_Tensai-Teki Kuroneko_ who've pretty much reviewed every chapter so far and have supported me all the way so far. Thankyou so much everyone, and keep the reviews coming in!**

**Now this chapter...I kind of like it, actually. ;]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach**

**R.I.P Byakuya Kuchiki!**

* * *

"You're early, Rukia," Hisana's voice rang out across from where Rukia was standing, stepping into the bakery before stopping short at the sight of Rukia's face. And the parchment.

"You...you _knew,_ didn't you?" Rukia whispered, struggling to keep the accusation out of her tone.

"What...what are you talking about, Rukia?" Hisana asked, attempting to feign innocence, but fooling no-one. "What do you mean?"

"This," she replied, her voice eerily calm, something which set Hisana's mood on edge. It was one thing to start throwing things about and screaming, but this calm silence...it was almost deafening to her ears. "You knew _all _along that Dad-" Rukia began, her voice rising, before she was cut off.

"That Dad _what_?" Hisana challenged, her bright eyes glimmering mysteriously.

"That Dad was a _murderer_!" she almost spat, trying to keep the contempt and disgust out of his voice. "You knew it all along, and you hid it from me, didn't you? Why? How could you? Do I mean nothing? Why did you-"

"Rukia..." Hisana began, placing her hands on Rukia's shoulders, who attempted to shrug them off. _"Rukia." _She said a little bit more firmly, her hands still grabbing her sister's shoulders. "There's no need to start throwing your words around."

"But I wasn't-"

"Shh." She admonished, sighing inwardly. "Maybe...maybe I should just tell you everything. What I know of it, anyway," she admitted resignedly. "Mind you, I don't know _everything_,"

"So, where does Nii-sama _really_ go?" Rukia asked eagerly, noticing her older brother's conspicuous absence.

"I don't really know," Hisana gabbled quickly, indicating that she was lying. Rukia decided not to push her for answers.

"So...what do you know, then?" she asked her sister, a hint of suspicion in her voice. _This doesn't sound good to me,_ she decided.

"It's just as you suspected," Hisana answered, sighing as she did so, and suddenly she looked a lot older than she really was. Tired. Weary.

"You're saying that our father...he _was_ involved in a murder?" Rukia began slowly, trying to ascertain whether her doubts were true.

"Yes...I guess that's what I'm saying...you know, that letter you're holding? It was sent a week before Kurosaki Ichigo's mother died," Hisana explained. "And these?" she gestured at the pile of parchment behind her, her face adopting a disgusted look. "Take a look,"

Rukia flicked through the pile, apprehension growing, her face going red as she stared incredulously at the bits of parchment.

"I should've known what the old geezer was up to..." she muttered, remembering the long hours her father spent locked in his study. "So basically, he was having an affair?"

"I wouldn't call it an affair, seeing as it was one-sided and never reciprocated..." Hisana murmured. "You see...he was in love with Ichigo's mother,"

"He was?" Rukia asked, her tone one of disbelief. _Of all the things..._ _perhaps the bastard deserved what he got, then._

"Right from when they were children," Hisana continued, handing over a photograph. "Look, you can see him there,"

Rukia glanced at the photograph, which was yellowing and faded around the edges, a sign of age. It depicted four men- three of whom she recognised instantly, and a woman stood nearby.

"That's him," Hisana said, pointing to a man with short raven hair and brown eyes. Next to him on the right was a man with silvery hair and glasses, a slightly older version of his son Uryuu, except for the hair, of course. It was obvious that he was the leader, for he exuded that sense of serenity and calmness, even in the photograph. Oh his right was a man she had known fairly well- her Nii-sama's biological father. His hair was also black and shoulder-length, adorned by the same ceremonial hairpiece that Nii-sama still wore today, complete with the traditional Kuchiki scarf. He was smiling gently, in the same way that Rukia had once seen on her Nii-sama's face.

On her adoptive father's right was someone Rukia had never seen before, but knew to be Kurosaki Isshin, his face tanned, his dark hair short and spiky, the vestiges of a goatee visible on his shin. He was grinning widely, his arm around a slim woman with kind eyes and willowy hair, who was also smiling. Ichigo's mother. Rukia couldn't help but crack a smile at her.

"So he...right, I think I get it," Rukia muttered, feeling confused and slightly sad.

"Yes," Hisana replied. "He kept sending these..._love letters"_- she spat the words out as though they were particularly foul- "to her, even though she was practically a married woman by then. She never returned those feelings, though,"

"So...do you think he was jealous of Kurosaki-san?" Rukia asked rather reluctantly, unwilling to address her father.

"Jealous, yes. But I highly doubt he'd take revenge by killing Isshin's wife. For all we know, he might've been framed for murder,"

"Yeah, right," Rukia snorted. "A guy who can stoop _this_ low can probably resort to murder. I wouldn't put it past him,"

Hisana sighed at her sister's attitude. She could be _so _difficult sometimes.

"DH...Rukia, do you think DH could have meant something else?"

"How many people do we know have the initials DH? I'm not about to find out," she answered, shrugging. "All I know is that...that man...he broke my Mom's heart. That's all." With that, she stalked into the living room and sat down on the battered couch, running her hands through her hair. She'd seemed calm, composed even, against Hisana- but in reality, she was confused, and her thoughts kept smashing against each other in increasing ferocity, annoying her. She remained silent, unaware of the fact that Hisana was observing her every move.

_I knew it...I knew it was too early to tell her... she'll just be filled with anger for no good reason. _Hisana thought. _I'm sorry, Byakuya-sama._

"Rukia, I'm sorry," Hisana began, tears in her eyes.

"Why are you apologising?" Rukia asked, puzzled. No, she wasn't confused because of what Hisana had told her. She already knew that her father had died for committing a crime- Hisana's revelation had only confirmed what a scumbag he had been, and that he deserved everything he got. But...well, she couldn't exactly blame Ichigo for being the way he was towards her, especially if he knew of all this. That sort of thing was bound to leave its mark. Perhaps he was just born into that sort of family where he couldn't help but be blamed for things. As far as she knew, Ichigo's mother had died in a horrible carriage accident 6 months after the Kuchiki murders, and it wasn't something you recovered from easily. 3ven her wounds were having a hard time healing, though she'd never admit that out loud.

Rukia sighed, shaking her head once more. No wonder Kurosaki Ichigo seemed to hate her so much. If that was the case...well, she had to do something about it. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but it'd probably be clear to her in due time.

"Rukia?" Hisana asked, snapping her out of her partial daydream.

"Huh?"

"Don't you have somewhere to go?"

"Oh..." Rukia glanced at the clock, which read 9 am. "But I don't start till 10,"

"Right," Hisana replied absentmindedly. "Rukia..." she began slowly, as if deciding what to say. "You asked where Byakuya-sama goes...well, he works for the Vandenreich,"

"He _what?_" Rukia shot back, surprised. "He works for that horrible Quincy gang? I heard they go round kidnapping children and all..."

Hisana rolled her eyes. "Those are just _rumours ,_silly,"

"Really?"

"Who told you that, anyway?"

"Uhm..." she hesitated, before answering. "Renji did, I suppose,"

"I should've known...and you actually believed him?"

"It was ages ago!"

"Back to what I was saying..." Hisana said, a thoughtful look on her face. "They're a Quincy gang in the loose sense of the word, yes, but horrible...I don't know," she admitted. "I heard they're some sort of training academy, but I've never known anyone who studied there,"

"Really? That's weird...So what _are_ Quincies, anyway?" Rukia shot at her.

"Do you know the legend of the First Shinigami and Quincy?"

"You mean where the Spirit King gave two best friends different abilities? One got the ability to fight, one to protect, and therefore preserve the balance of the world?"

"Got it in one,"

"So...well, Shinigami are skilled swordsmen, and Quincies are...skilled archers? Is that what 'Shinigami' and 'Quincy' mean?"

"'Shinigami' and 'Quincy' are both words that came from the Ancient language. The true meaning of the words may have been lost...few people may be able to tell you what they mean; fewer still can give you the context of the words or understand the language at all. But your definition, in today's context, is correct, as it is what people believe in."

"So is that story true?"

"Legend, Rukia. Some people doubt its authenticity even today, but yes, it is true."

"So, to fight, and to protect..."

"I don't really know the details," Hisana admitted, "But I do know that the Shinigami was initially given the balance of the world, so he could fight his enemies as he pleased, whilst the Quincy was given the seal, to protect the weak, the vulnerable, the innocent, but most importantly, to capitalise the balance,"

"Not literally...right?" Rukia asked. "I mean you can't actually _balance_-"

"In a materialistic form, of course," Hisana interrupted. "There are four, I believe, all in separate parts,"

"You kinda lost me there..."

"What I mean to say is," Hisana said patiently, "There are four..._things,_ which help keep this balance, but not all of them were given to the Shinigami and Quincy. There are two to fight, and two to protect,

"And these have been passed down, right?"

"Not all of them...I believe the Kurosaki and Ishida clans have one 'thing' each. The rest... have been lost through time, I guess. The two pieces that remain are treasured immensely and..." Hisana's voice trailed off, as Rukia's mind began to open up to new possibilities.

_Treasured immensely. _

_Zangetsu._

But surely, Zangetsu was the 'thing' right? She knew it was a family heirloom, and that Ichigo treasured it beyond anything else. For some odd reason, she felt that the information was important, and resolved to remember it as best as she could. And what of the other three 'things?' And the Quincy heirloom?

What did Ishida Uryuu treasure more than anything?

"And Rukia, before you jump to any conclusions," Hisana continued, as though Rukia had been listening the entire time, "Byakuya-sama works for the Vandenreich because he believes that they may have the answer to what happened 10 years ago,"

* * *

A million questions plagued Rukia's mind, as she made her way to the manor.

_The Vandenreich may have the answer to what happened 10 years ago._

Were the Vandenreich involved in her family's murder? But _why?_ Who had a grudge against the Kuchikis?

It was late morning, and it was bright and sunny, a common occurrence for early May. This only meant one thing: summer was arriving. Having been born in the dead of winter and appreciating it and the snow, Rukia disliked summer. The sun was too bright, the dusty streets of Karakura too hot, and she couldn't see a damn thing. The sun barely set during this time and she rarely got to see the moon, but on the few occasions she did- and this was one of the very few things she loved about summer- the moon could be seen clearly from the backyard of the house, the night sky literally scattered with millions of stars all twinkling in their own unique way. Rukia loved the moon and the stars; but more importantly, she loved the night itself, something only the summer season could give her. In the winter, the dark, dense clouds hung too low, obscuring the view of the moon and the stars, and the tranquillity and harmony she was so accustomed during the summer nights was absent.

Rukia turned a corner to see Orihime sat on a bench in front of the fountain in the middle of Karakura Square, donning a low-cut tank top, booty denim shorts and sandals. Rukia shhok her head, irritated. That sort of thing really got on her nerves, sometimes, why on earth would a girl want to walk around practically naked? She shrugged. At least she was safe and comfortable in her loose, knee-length cuffed sleeve pale blue dress and white ballet flats.

As she approached, she saw that Orihime wasn't alone- and that she was dabbing at her eyes with a rather large purple handkerchief, whilst Ishida- _Ishida _of all people, what was he doing here? Oh well, his funeral. Orihime could be annoyingly clingy sometimes- was sat besides her, attempting to console her with his soothing words, one hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay, Orihime?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah...I'm fine," she whispered weakly, sniffling.

"That idiot..." Ishida muttered, unaware that Rukia had approached. "Just forget him, Inoue,"

"Forget who?" At the sound of her voice, Ishida instinctively began to scratch his head, blushing.

"Uhh..." was all he said. "Well, Kurosaki dumped her," he said promptly, scowling.

"Huh?"

"He didn't dump me!" Orihime said, her voice hysterical, as she threw a reproachful look at Ishida. Rukia fought the urge to roll her eyes. "He...well, I asked him out," she admitted.

"You did _what?_" Rukia replied, biting back a laugh. _Of all the people..._ well, she wasn't humoured because of Orihime's predicament, but rather because it was_ Ichigo_ of all people that she had tried to supposedly woo. Seriously, that guy was like a block of stone sometimes. "Well, what did he say?"

"He...he said he didn't feel the same way...that he thinks of me only as a friend..."

For some odd reason, Orihime's reply made her feel...happy? No. Elated? Maybe. Relieved? Probably...but why? Perhaps because she could do better? Well, it didn't have much to do with her. She hadn't always been on the best of terms with the auburn-headed girl, but knew her fairly well.

"Well, 'Hime...Ishida's right, Ichigo's an idiot. Forget him," she suggested.

"Yeah," Ishida muttered darkly in assent. "Erm, well...I'll stay with you for a while...if you like?" he offered nervously.

"Oh!" Orihime exclaimed in surprise, taken aback. "Arigatou, Ishida-kun," she smiled. He smiled back, glad that she seemed to be feeling a little better.

"Uh," Rukia began, feeling intrusive. "I gotta get to work...I'll see you later, I guess. Bye,"

"Hey! RUKIA!" Came the shout, sometime later. Snapping out of her mindless reverie, Rukia recognised the mass of black spiky hair instantly.

"Hey, Tatsuki," Rukia said, as she sidled up to the taller female, who was also donning a summer outfit consisting of a tank top and cargo pants. "What's up?"

"Ah, not much," she replied, employing her trademark devilish grin. "You?"

"Same," she admitted. "Did you hear about Orihime?"

"Oh, I just came from over there," she gestured behind her. "Last thing I saw was them holding hands,"

"Wow, really?"

"Yup. Well, I better get going, or I'll be late for karate...see ya," and with a jovial wave, Tatsuki left.

Shrugging her shoulders, Rukia continued to make her way to the manor.

* * *

It was lunchtime, and the midday sun was sweltering, causing most people to stay indoors. Even Rukia had been given the afternoon off- at least until the heat wore off, for as the Chief Servant had stated- he didn't want any of his 'darlin' girls dying from heatstroke.' Not for the first time, Rukia wondered why it was so hot, even though it was only early May. It felt like freaking July, for goodness sake!

Rukia was bored by now, and she was just finding somewhere to buy lunch when she spotted an orange-haired tree nearby. Glancing at the nearby building, she smiled devilishly, stepping forward. _Ah, perfect. _Feigning innocence, she approached the lanky male, who frowned at her, as always.

"What?" he growled. Well, at least he was dressed normally today, instead of those stifling robes. He wore a white t-shirt that had some sort of rainbow and Nyan Cat in the middle, with the message 'BEING NORMAL IS FOR PUNKS' in block capitals, maroon chinos and shoes.

"Too darn true," Rukia muttered, reading the caption on his t-shirt.

"Say something?" Ichigo asked.

"I didn't know you were into Nyan Cat," she snickered.

"What? Err..." He looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Yuzu got it for me. So? What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Could ask you the same. I got the afternoon off, and I'm looking for somewhere to eat," she admitted.

"Me too. There's nothing here unless you're going to the Chappy Cafe," Ichigo replied, glancing at the pink building with distaste, which was adorned with rabbits, and a 40-something year old man in a life-size Chappy costume at the door, dishing out Chappy shaped confetti to visitors.

Rukia's eyes grew wide in feigned innocent, and she glanced at Ichigo, who was still glaring at the middle-aged man, who winked back.

_Time to have a little fun,_ she thought.

"The Chappy Cafe!" Rukia exclaimed, completely taking Ichigo by surprise and grabbing his arm, pulling him towards the direction of the building.

"What the hell? No, no, nonononono NO I AM NOT GOING IN-" Ichigo protested, as he was dragged inside by a persistent Rukia.

Little did either of them know that a certain auburn-headed female was watching them with her sad, grey eyes.

* * *

**Yeah, I'm not too keen on Orihime, for various reasons...but I kinda had to include her. For Ishida's sake, LOL. I think I made Rukia too mean. But the poor girl's so confused and full of revenge...D:**

**Suggestions, constructive criticism, feedback, all are welcomed! Plus, please do tell me if I make any error in grammar or so :] all reviews are appreciated.**

**-Tazski**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Woops, another late update xD it's been a busy summer for me, what with A-level result and all. I got my results last week and did really well, so I got into my first choice university :) so I'm really happy. But I have so much to do now D: so firstly, I want to apologize if I can't reply to your review personally like I normally do, and if my updates are irregular, as they may be. It depends on what my schedule's like once I'm settled into unversity.**

**I'd like to thank the following people: DinieLuvYunho, zgavreel, Lilikap, Glon Morski, Chewbrok, Kanrei, BlackRose786, SimpleTad001, SokiKuro, Zykira678, Sushi Bear, ILoveTheSky101, MeddyIR, fireworks1820, Rukichichan, sandmanmh, Good boy-chan, xZigZag and Glory-Haru for reviewing/subscribing/favouriting. Thankyou very much everyone and keep 'em all coming in!**

**K, onwards with the story. Oh boyyyyy, I loved writing this chapter ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach :(**

* * *

Ichigo sighed loudly, rolling his eyes as he approached the counter, irritating midget in tow. He'd have to be careful not to say that out loud to her...on second thoughts, perhaps he would.

"How can I help?" the cashier or whoever she was asked, a fake smile plastered across her face. She probably had fake teeth too. Jeez, didn't real girls exist anymore?

"Table for two," Rukia said, as Ichigo opened his mouth. Frowning, he clamped it shut once more. Sheesh, what was it with this girl? He barely knew her, yet she was being clingy as if they were best buddies or something. A bit too _clingy_, actually. Close enough that he could smell her lavender scent, and something else, like...vanilla, or something.

_Who the hell wears lavender as a scent, anyway? _He scowled as Rukia led him towards a Chappy shaped table in the far corner (it was pink and white, of course) and sat down across from her, elbows on the table.

She looked at him. "Well?" she demanded, as the food arrived. "Mind telling me what's going on?" _Spit it out, ginger._

"Huh?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow in confusion. _Is she high or what?_

"I'm curious." _I demand an answer._

"About what, exactly?" _What the hell is wrong with her?_

"How come you rejected Orihime?" _You're a moron._

"What's it to you?" _None of your business, midget._

"I'm waiting." _Give me a damn answer already!_

Ichigo glared at her for a few more seconds, and when he realised that she wasn't just going to give up, he began to speak once more, choosing his words carefully.

"Uh...she asked me out?" _Why do you need to know, anyway?_

"I'm well acquainted with that fact." _No shit, Sherlock. _"So why don't you just-"

"Are you going to let me finish?" Ichigo asked the petite female, a wicked smirk on his face.

"Whatever," She grumbled.

"Well, she told me she liked-"

"Loved." Rukia couldn't resist this one.

"Shut up for 2 minutes, will ya?"

Rukia laughed. _I really should do this more often._

"Carry on."

"Um...she said she loved me, I said I don't feel the same way, _the end_, now will you _stop picking at my nerves_?" Ichigo shook his head, letting out an exasperated sigh. _What is this, a police interrogation?_

"You _seriously _said that? No wonder she was upset..."

"Not in those words! Well..."

"_Boys_," Rukia muttered darkly, before digging into her Chappy cake. "Well? Aren't you going to eat?"

Ichigo surveyed his pink ramen with distaste. _Who the hell makes PINK ramen, anyway? This place is as creepy as hell... no pun intended._

He glanced at Rukia, who was attacking her cake like hungry prey. _No manners at all,_ he thought. Yet he'd noticed something strange about her, something really...weird. Was it actually possible to have violet eyes? No wait, they were blue. Actually-

"What you looking at?" Rukia asked, as she finished her cake.

"Nothing," Ichigo replied, a little too quickly. "You have cake on your cheek. Here," he said, holding out a handkerchief.

"Uh...thanks," Rukia mumbled, wiping her cheek, and handing the handkerchief back. However, Ichigo refused and told her to keep it.

"Hey, are you gonna eat that?" she said after a long moment of silence, gesturing at his untouched ramen.

"No thanks," he replied, pulling a face. _As if._

"Choosy much," she muttered, standing up to go and pay.

"Where you going?"

"To pay?" Rukia's eyes glimmered with dark humour.

"Uh...I'll do it," Ichigo offered.

"Huh?" _Why's he being the gentleman all of a sudden?_

"I'll go pay, since it'd look stupid if I made a girl pay," he explained, rolling his eyes. "Social etiquette and all,"

"Sure, whatever," Rukia answered. _So much the better for her._

Just as Ichigo finished paying, a man in a bunny suit ran up to the duo. Thankfully, he looked relatively normal- except for the whole bunny thing, of course.

"Sir, ma'am, would you like to try on one of our Limited Edition Chappy ears?" he babbled, bubbling with excitement. "They glow in the dark too!"

"Ooh, I'd love to!" Rukia exclaimed with unprecedented enthusiasm, jamming the ears eagerly onto her head. "And _he'd_ like one too," she added, jabbing her index finger at an unsuspecting Ichigo.

"Uh...no, actually...No, Rukia, I am NOT wearing...oh God..." he muttered irritably as Rukia forced the ears onto his head, which clashed horrible with his orange hair.

"Smile!" the bunny man ordered as he clicked a photograph of the duo, with Ichigo mumbling and grumbling all the while. "There," he said, glancing at them. "You look sooooooo cute!"

"Please don't ever say that again..." Ichigo begged in an undertone throwing the hat off and, glaring at Rukia pointedly. She took the hint and grimaced nervously, leading Ichigo out.

"What the hell was that about?" he demanded, running a hand through his hair. "If anyone actually saw me..."

Rukia smiled cheekily in response.

"What?"

She remained silent. That was enough for him.

"Wait a minute...did you plan this?"

"Maybe, or maybe not. Who knows?" she shrugged once more.

"Freak," he muttered.

"_What_ did you say?"

It was his turn to shrug. "You heard me,"

"How dare you call me a-"

"Don't you have something to do?" he asked, staring at her.

"Oh...um, yeah, I suppose I better get back to work..." Rukia glanced at the sky- it was still bright and sunny, but the sun was inching closer towards the western horizon, and it was noticeably cooler, the nearby houses casting long, dusty shadows.

The two walked together in companionable silence, appreciating the quiet. The trees around them were a dark, lustrous green, and fully grown, signalling an early summer, whilst the clouds were all but visible.

"Uh... Ichigo?" Rukia asked, after several moments of silence. He turned towards her, frowning, expecting her to go on.

The question was one that had been bothering Rukia for a while now; ever since she had witnessed the 'exchange' between Ichigo and the tall stranger, Chad. What really annoyed her was the fact that she might-_might_- have misjudged Ichigo. But she wasn't sure. _Yet._

"Well, aren't you gonna say somethin'?" Ichigo growled, his usual scowl gracing his face. Women sure were weird.

"I was wondering...well, if you hated me," Rukia admitted sheepishly, albeit lamely.

"Huh?" Ichigo was rather taken aback by the sudden statement. He hadn't ever heard her sound...so sincere, probably. It made him feel a little funny and his guts twist uncomfortably. He had to think for a moment, whilst Rukia's violet eyes were on him.

"Uh...well... you're irritating, definitely annoying as hell, and sometimes you _really_ pluck at my last nerve...but no, I don't hate you," he said, at last. "I guess we're friends, aren't we?" he said grudgingly. "What made you think like _that_, anyway?"

Rukia felt strangely relieved after Ichigo's answer, as though she had _wanted_ him not to hate her. Well, he had clearly said he didn't...

For her Nee-sama's sake, for Yuzu, Karin and even Orihime's sake, she began to hope that her initial perception was dead wrong. How she would achieve that, she had no idea, but boy, was she determined.

"Um...nothing," Rukia answered a little uncertainly, acknowledging the funny look Ichigo was giving her. "And thanks, I suppose?" They walked into the cool manor, a welcome change after the stifling heta outside.

"See you later, I guess..." she said, her voice trailing off.

"Yeah, see ya," Ichigo replied, before heading in the opposite direction.

Rukia was having mixed feelings as she slid along the eastern wall at approximately 1am, as she had done the previous week. Only this time...she felt guilty. Despite what she had done to him earlier, he had been rather civil 9for him) about the whole incident. Amused, even. Maybe it was just in his nature. Start off nasty, and then get nicer as time passes- so that way, he was letting people know exactly _who_ was in control. After all, hadn't she tried to do the same thing?

_Pretty clever,_ Rukia mused. _And that would allow him to identify who to trust, right?_ But of course, the strategy itself wasn't foolproof. Nothing ever was.

_I guess we're friends, aren't we?_

If Ichigo considered her a friend...well that meant that he trusted her to some extent, right? Or perhaps he was being cautious and wary of her, keeping an eye on her movements, hoping that the whole we're-friends-aren't-we thing would result in Rukia dropping her guard. Heck, like that was going to happen. Or was she reading into things too much as usual?

Rukia didn't really have time to think about that- she had a job to do.

But still...she felt as though she was staling. _It's not stealing,_ she mentally corrected herself. She wasn't about to let a bit of guilt override her logical, practical way of thinking, was she? Anyway, if the diary helped her understand the mess she was supposedly investigating, would it matter that she had read it before asking? No. Not really.

Rukia was at a familiar spot by now- at the base of the tree she had climbed last week. As the moonlight shone into her eyes, she grabbed the trunk with both hands and heaved herself upwards, squinting a little. Soon, she was covered in tiny cuts and gauzes, many of which stung, making her waver a little. As she reached the lower branches where the tree spanned out, a twig caught her silver snowflake bracelet, rendering her helpless, and she had to grab the twig for support.

_Crap..._ she thought. _I better rip it off or- _

Rukia didn't get the chance to her sentence. Without warning, the twig snapped with a fearsome _crack,_ accompanied by the telltale_ snip_ of metal, causing her to lose balance, and therefore lurch alarmingly to the left, and loosen her right hand. She could feel the twig slicing diagonally through her left wrist, leaving a gash, and several droplets of what felt like blood, which was warm on her hand. She protested in pain as she fell, as some branches hit her head and some cushioned her fall. Finally she came to a halt on her back with a resounding _thud_, her hands finding clumps of dry grass which seemed to disintegrate beneath her fingers. Dazed and winded, having just had the wind knocked out of her, she attempted to get up, only to exclaim in pain once more as she felt the gash on her left wrist stretch, the stars above her spinning in circles.

"Rukia?" came a voice, distinctively male. Rukia shut her eyes tightly, her fists clenched.

_Not now..._ she begged silently, praying to any God that might exist in the heavens. _Please let me be imagining that voice..._

"Oi, Rukia!" came the indignant exclaim. Her eyes flew open in surprise, and she found the tall frame of Kurosaki Ichigo looming over her, staring down at her.

"What the hell happened to _you_?" he demanded, holding his hand out and helping her up, which felt surprisingly cool to the touch.

"Uh... I..." she stammered, whilst her mind went into overdrive. _What should I say? Oh God... he's going to start interrogating me any second now... how the hell do I explain to him what I was doing in his tree at 1am?_ She shut her eyes, waiting for the incoming onslaught. It didn't come. Instead, Rukia gingerly opened her eyes to find that Ichigo was still staring at her, as if expecting an answer. He looked away, muttering darkly.

"Come on," was all he said, standing up. He led her towards the fountain in the middle of the grassy lawns, which was lit up at this time of night and shone brightly, a beacon against the night sky.

"Sit," he ordered. She sat. He noticed the gash on her left wrist, a steep, jagged line, which was raw with pain, about as long as his hand. Luckily it wasn't deep, so it'd heal up pretty quick.

"Stay here and I'll be back in a minute," Ichigo said, before racing off towards the manor. As his silhouette became smaller and smaller, Rukia began to wonder.

_Why is Ichigo helping me? Is that what friends do?_

What bothered her though was the fact that he was _here_, at this time. Why hadn't he gone? Or more accurately, why had he returned early?

Rukia's train of thought was derailed by Ichigo's reappearance. He sat down besides her, placing what looked like a first aid kit next to him, and propped it open.

"I wouldn't be able to see well if I brought you inside, since nearly all the lights are out and everyone's asleep," he explained as he held Rukia's wrist, inspecting the damage. Again, his fingers felt cool, yet firm, as he leant towards her, scrutinizing the cut.

"So what _did_ happen?" he asked once more, scanning her face carefully.

"Uh...I fell from a tree," she replied timidly. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Rukia felt aware of his presence, his incredibly loud breathing as he began to clean the wound. He dabbed some alcohol onto it, she winced slightly, suddenly jerking her wrist away.

"Sit _still,_ would you?" he snapped, holding her wrist in place. Gosh, she was annoying sometimes.

"What do you think I'm _trying_ to do..." she mumbled, trying not to sound unappreciative. "You think you know it all, don't you..."

"My dad was a doctor," he said shortly. "I learnt a few things from him."

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Rukia spoke.

"Uh...Ichigo?" Rukia asked, slightly hesitant. He looked up as he was bandaging the wound, pausing for a second, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Aren't you gonna ask me?" she continued, a teasing glint in her eye. _Why doesn't this guy seem bothered by the fact that I was climbing his tree at 1am?_

"Ask you what?"

"What I was doing in your tree?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I dunno, do I? And well...let's just say climbing trees was a hobby of mine too, until...well, things changed." The tone of his voice indicated a sense of finality, and Rukia didn't broach the subject.

He couldn't deny that he was mystified by what Rukia was up to, but he decided that it wouldn't be wise to push her for answers. She'd tell him if she felt like it. Or not. He finished wrapping the bandaged up, and closed the first aid kit, letting go of Rukia's wrist.

"There," he said. "All done."

Rukia stood up to leave. "Um...thanks for helping me, Ichigo," she said, risking a small smile. "I better get going."

"Uh, it's okay," he replied, scratching his head. "See ya,"

The two turned around in opposite directions and made their way back to their respective homes, their minds full of thoughts.

* * *

**Oh yeah, IchiRukiness! K, this is where it starts to get exciting. No. More. Details. Wait and find out :D I'll definitely update next week, as Chapter 14 is already typed up. **

**Don't forget to review!**

**-Tazski**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Alright, I have no excuse for not updating last week, despite this chapter already being typed up... it just needed minor editing. I've just been tired lately, I've had a lot to do :| and I noticed that most of my regular reviewers are disappearing! D: this demotivates me badly T_T and part of the reason this story is still ongoing is because I've already planned it out. So pwease review *puppy eyes***

**I'd like to thank the following people: BlackRose786, byakkun6, XxSilenceOfTheNightXx, Dark S1, rose miyuki, Chiharu-san, Booklover2526, Tacos-rule153, velli9, batosaix, Cool070, DinieLuvYunho, Guest, Almond, and a special thanks to Glon Morski for her regular reviews :D**

**On the subject of reviews, I noticed that we're nearing 100 reviews now... which is a huge first for me! O_o so for my 100th reviewer, I will write a Bleach one-shot of the pairing of your choice. Absolutely any pairing...I think _ as long as it's not too obscure or someone that we don't know much about xD and hey, I'll le you choose the themes too! So get reviewing :p**

**Disclaimer: Damn you, I don't own Bleach. And *spoiler alert* YAMA'S GONE BANKAIIIIII! JUST LIKE I KNEW HE WOULD!**

* * *

"Open your eyes already!" came the command, followed by a jolt as Rukia felt her shoulders shaking. She blearily opened her eyes, mumbling incoherently, squinting as she attempted to adjust to the stream of light pouring in from the now wide-open bamboo screen.

After several moments of struggling to fully open her eyes, she surveyed the looming figure- an almost exact replica of her, her sister.

"Rukia," Hisana commanded in a stern tone. "Get up!"

"I don't have work…" she muttered loudly, before sitting up in bed. Her sleep had been disturbed, and she was feeling rather grouchy at that moment in time. It was one of those rare days where Rukia actually had taken a day off- or more accurately, she had been _told_ to take the day off, for some vague reason or the other.

It was at that moment that Rukia noticed the piece of stationery in Hisana's hand. From what she could see, it was an ivory and dark golden colour, with elegant swirls and roses printed on to it, with the words "FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE KUCHIKI HOUSEHOLD" printed on it in faded silver letters.

"What's that?" Rukia asked, gesturing towards the envelope, curious.

"Take a look yourself," Hisana said knowingly, perching herself on the end of Rukia's bed. Rukia took the envelope, opening it carefully and scanning its contents, before gasping out in surprise. She glanced at Hisana, who was smiling widely now.

"You _knew_ this, didn't you?" Rukia demanded accusingly, yet her tone was light and teasing. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I only found out earlier this morning, when your friends Tatsuki and Orihime dropped it off for us," Hisana admitted, and Rukia could see that she was being honest. She glanced down at the card in her hands, reading it carefully once more.

MR & MRS KUCHIKI AND FAMILY,

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO WITNESS THE HOLY MATRIMONY BETWEEN MR. URAHARA KISUKE AND MISS YORUICHI SHIHOIN….

VENUE: KUROSAKI AND ISHIDA MANOR, CENTRAL KARAKURA

5PM, SUNDAY MAY 13. ALL ARE INVITED TO THE AFTER-PARTY, WHICH BEGINS APPROX AT 12AM

Rukia looked a little puzzled as she put down the wedding invite beside her. Why on earth would anyone have a party at 12am? But then again, this was Urahara Kisuke's wedding, after all. Judging by the time she had met him, it would be exactly the kind of thing he would do. She smiled gingerly, realising that her prediction not long ago had come true. She _knew_ that something had been going on between the two. But then again…Rukia wasn't much of a party girl. Going down to the local tavern to down a few beers with friends was one thing, but a full-blown party? No _way_ was that going to happen.

"Oh, Rukia," Hisana said breezily. "The girls specifically requested for you to come to the after-party," she said, winking.

Crap.

"I'm not going," she mumbled guiltily, her eyes cast down.

"Yes you _are_ Rukia, and I'll make sure you do," Hisana said, rather sternly. "A girl has to have fun sometimes, right?"

"But-"

"No buts! I'm going shopping for outfits today; I'll close the bakery early, since the wedding is tonight," Hisana said excitedly. She loved dressing up for occasions like these.

Rukia, on the other hand, did not. She wasn't a sophisticated person to say the least, preferring to swan around in loose, tatty frocks all day, which was fine by her. The idea of wearing an evening gown to a wedding was despicable to her, and made her cringe. _Ew._

"Fine…" Rukia grumbled. Irritated. There was no stopping Hisana once she'd made up her mind. "Nee-sama, why didn't anyone tell us about the wedding in advance?"

Now it was Hisana's turn to look irritated. "You know Urahara-san, don't you? He and Yoruichi-san left everything till the last minute, because they themselves hadn't decided whether they were getting married or not till 2 days ago. And the wedding invites finished printing only yesterday…"

_Typical,_ Rukia thought, amused. "But why do we have to go shopping for clothes?" she whined.

"Not _we_, I. _I'm_ going to buy us both clothes," Hisana answered, emphasising her point. Rukia groaned inwardly, knowing what Hisana's choice of clothing was like. She'd probably buy a long, low-cut evening gown for her and _make_ her style her hair into some sophisticated hairdo or something. Well, she wasn't going to. Hmph.

"I'll be back soon!" Hisana said cheerily as she left the house, locking the door behind her. Rukia put her head in her arms, grumbling and groaning. What kind of hideous outfit would Hisana get for her? And to make things worse, Rukia didn't own any sort of occasion clothing, so even if she didn't like what Hisana got her, she'd _have_ to wear it. Great. And clothing from a person that thought beaded clutches were adorable and shiny, 4-inch high heels were the peak of _sophisticated chicness,_ it had to be very bad indeed.

And the wedding was held at Ichigo's house, meaning that everyone got to see her looking like a ridiculous moron. _Awesome._

Not.

* * *

It was almost 4pm by the time Hisana returned, numerous shopping bags in hand. She plopped down onto the couch, utterly exhausted.

"There was so much to choose from!" she exclaimed, as Rukia handed her a glass of water. "Look at what I got though," she said, rustling the bags as she attempted to find the right one. Rukia backed away quickly, not in the mood for Hisana's fashion anecdotes.

"Uh, I have to-"

"Sit _down,_ Rukia," she commanded in her scariest voice. Rukia sat.

She pulled out some material from a shiny silver carrier bag and handed it to Rukia.

"Your dress," she said simply. It was a dark, royal blue, and by the looks of it- shiny and floor-length. Hisana handed her a few more carrier bags, insisting that she try the clothing on. Rukia ran upstairs, dumping everything but the dress onto her bed, and bounded over to the full-length mirror to examine the dress.

She groaned as she realised that Hisana had bought her exactly what she _didn't _want- something that was girly, sophisticated, and as Hisana would say- _chic._ _Great. _Muttering darkly, she rummaged through the rest of the carrier bags, finding a various assortment of items- jewellery, a matching clutch, 4-inch, silver high heels…the works.

"What do you think?" a voice came from the stairs, which Rukia recognised as her sister's.

"Nee-sama…" she began, hesitating slightly. As much as she detested the clothing, she didn't want to hurt her sister's feelings. "Um, I don't actually want to wear this-"

"Well, you have to, don't you," she said testily, coming upstairs in her outfit for the evening.

"Wow…" Rukia commented at her now dressed up sister. Hisana wore a floor-length, black evening gown with a split hem at the side, a plunging V-neckline and backline, dotted with faint sparkles and a silvery fringy necklace and earrings. It was an off the shoulder number, and her hands were adorned with an assortment of silvery bangles, a matching clutch and high heels similar to Rukia's own. Her hair hung in a sophisticated half ponytail, and she wore smoky black eyeshadow and faint lipstick. Dressed up to the nines, as Hisana would have said.

"You look great," Rukia admitted honestly. Hisana could pull off just about _anything. _Nii-sama was literally going to _plotz_ when he saw his wife dressed up this way. She grinned at the thought.

"Don't you have to get ready too? We're getting late, as it is," Hisana said, raising an eyebrow at her sister, who was still in her green daytime frock.

"Do I have to…" she grumbled, before catching the look on Hisana's face. "Uh, fine," she gabbled quickly, grabbing the dress from her bed. "You go on without me, I'll be fine…where's Nii-sama, by the way?"

"He's waiting outside for me," Hisana said, suddenly going red for some reason. Rukia winked at her slyly, smiling once more. "Go wow him, Nee-sama," she commented teasingly, earning an elbow to the rib.

"Shush, Rukia," she admonished, but nevertheless she was smiling. "We'll be on our way now, hurry up will you?"

As the lock clicked, Rukia picked up the dress she was wearing, sighing. Nee-sama was so dramatic when it came to clothes.

Almost an hour and a half later, Rukia was ready. Even though she said she _hated _dressing up, she felt she'd done a decent job on herself, for a change. She quickly risked a glance in the mirror, making sure that everything was in place- and almost didn't recognise herself. Gone was the tatty green frock she'd become so accustomed to, and the leggings she usually donned, her black hair hanging limply. Tonight, her hair was done up in a sleek bun, shiny and elegant, curls hanging from it, her hair swept to the side, save for one lock which fell into her eyes. She wore just a hint of metallic black eyeliner, contrasting heavily to her her glimmering, blue-violet eyes, complete with smoky, dark blue eyeshadow and a tiny tint of blusher.

Her dress was shimmery, accentuating her slim figure rather than making her seem skinnier than she already was, which is what most figure-hugging dresses did. However, hers was cinched in at the waist, and flew right down to the bottom in swathes of different tints of royal blue, gathering at her feet in frills. The dress had a stiff, chinese collar with a narrow V neckline and was sleeveless; adorned with silvery sparkles. She wore a stiff, silver necklace, the large pendant sitting in the hollow of her throat, and matching silver earrings. At her side was a matching blue clutch, and she wore the 4-inch heels adorned with butterflies on the front- but only because the dress was too long for her without them, and she had no other shoes to match.

She teetered slightly as she climbed down the stairs and walked out of the door, locking it besides her. It was nearing 6pm now and she'd have to hurry, otherwise she'd miss the wedding.

* * *

Rukia ran into the huge ballroom of the manor where the wedding was being held, pushing forward the huge ivory doors as she did so. The room was silent as everyone watched the priest speaking the words of holy matrimony. As she rushed in, everyone's gaze turned towards her- some of disgust, some of surprise, and some of…well, she didn't know. She almost tripped as she ran towards the altar where there was a group of people stood with the bride and groom, most of whom she recognised, such as Ichigo, Ishida, Tatsuki and Orihime. She spotted her Nee-sama and Nii-sama lurking nearby, and ran up to join them, almost tripping over her dress in the process. The group stared at her as she clambered over the podium, with gasps on the part of Orihime and Tatsuki, the latter winking at her.

"You look great!" she mouthed, giving Rukia the thumbs up, at which Rukia grimaced slightly. She felt like a fool, actually, compared to the others- Tatsuki was looking cool in her shiny LBD, whilst Orihime wore a sleeveless, pale blue, knee-length dress, which was ruched at the sides- bending itself towards her curvy figure. Rukia grimaced once more, noticing that a large amount of young males were staring at _her_ rather than the bride- no wonder Ishida was pointedly glaring at the audience. It was then that she noticed Ichigo staring at her, frowning as usual- but he had another expression on his face, which was strangely like surprise. Gosh, had he _never_ seen her before or something?

Rukia remained silent, fixing her gaze on the couple in front of her, who by now were holding hands, looking as blissfully happy as ever. Urahara wore traditional robes of black, and actually wasn't wearing his signature white and green stripy hat for a change, and he was impeccably groomed and cleaned, and was grinning widely. Yoruichi on the other hand was smiling shyly- a first for her- looking down, as she held the hands of her to be husband. She also wore a traditional bridal dress which seemed to glitter in the evening sun, floor-length and sleeveless, whilst wearing a lacy, see-through veil.

"Do you, Mr Urahara Kisuke, take Yoruichi Shihoin to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," came the reply.

"And do you, Miss Yoruichi Shihoin take Mr Urahara Kisuke to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," she replied, smiling. The priest exhaled in relief as he proceeded to the last few lines. Weddings could be such a hassle sometimes.

"Under the laws of the Holy Matrimony within the realm of Karakura, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," the priest, a balding man of 80, announced.

As the groom dipped his newly wedded wife's back and kissed her, everyone cheered enthusiastically with a large smattering of applause, cat-calls, and wolf-whistles. As Rukia cheered the couple on, she risked a glance at her companions- Tatsuki was egging on the couple in not-so-subtle tones, using suggestive language at which the priest was muttering loudly; Ishida was holding hands with Orihime, silently rooting for the couple, Nee-sama and Nii-sama were also holding hands, smiling amongst the ecstatic cheering well, atleast Nee-sama was- heck, even Ichigo looked happy, clapping enthusiastically. Funny how one event could bring everyone together.

Looking back on this day, Rukia wouldn't be able to remember much of what happened in the events leading up to the 12am after party, since it was a blur of champagne, cake, and exuberant dancing- although Rukia hadn't drunk much herself, preferring to save it for the party. Hey, even a girl had to let herself go sometimes. She eventually lost count of the people she'd danced with, eventually ending up sat on a bench nearby, rubbing her feet where the high heels had chafed her soles.

That was where she was found as the clock ticked near 12am, as preparations for the party went underway. Most people, especially the adults had gone home by now- on account of heavy drinking and cake, and surprisingly, it was mainly youngsters who had remained behind.

Hisana walked up to Rukia, thankfully still sober, looking as though she had had the time of her life. She held Byakuya's arm as she did so, her elegant bun now coming down in loose curls.

"That was _some_ wedding, eh, Rukia?" she commented, smiling hugely. Rukia had to agree with her on that point- this was the sort of event that would be talked about in years to come.

"Anyway," she ploughed on, without waiting for a response. "Me and Byakuya-sama are going home; we're tired and have to work tomorrow. Want to come with us?"

Rukia thought for a moment before making her decision. "No thanks," she replied, which evidently pleased Hisana. "I'll stay on for a while at the party,"

"Okay," Hisana agreed happily. "Just don't make it too late, okay?"

"I'll try," Rukia promised, as she continued to rub her feet. God, those shoes were _painful. _

"Yo, Rukia!" came a voice, which she recognised as Tatsuki's. She eventually came into view, followed by Orihime and her boyfriend. She sat down next to Rukia on the bench, with the couple following suit. "Watcha doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing…" Rukia grumbled warily.

"Oh, so that means you won't be able to dance?"

"Dance? What dance?"

"The party's on the grass gardens outside, y'know," Tatsuki said matter-of-factly. Well, that made sense…since the ballroom was looking pretty empty by now. Rukia was expecting tumbleweed to roll in any moment.

The trio got up, and Rukia followed them outside. She raised her eyebrows as she stepped outside- the gardens had been decorated rather magnificently, in honour of the newly wedded couple. There were streams of lights hung around everywhere- on trees, propped on poles, the lot. There was a huge dance floor donning the middle, surrounding the water-fountain in the middle, which was currently occupied by a few happy couples, including Urahara and Yoruichi. Ishida quickly looked at Orihime at this point as if to say something, before grabbing her hand and leading her to the dance floor, where they began to slow-dance to a sluggish, mournful tune.

"I wonder where Ichigo is?" Tatsuki mused, stroking her chin. "I haven't really seen him around- oh, speak of the bloody devil and he shall arrive," she quoted, as the tall, lanky frame of Kurosaki Ichigo appeared to materialise out of nowhere.

"Hi," he said, looking slightly flustered, as though he had been running. Tonight, he was donning midnight-blue robes, embellished with silver- quite similar to the ones Rukia had seen on him when he had first come to the bakery a little over 3 months ago.

"Well, hello there," Tatsuki replied, glaring at him. "Where have you been?"

"The amount of _creeps_ you get here…" he muttered, glancing at a spot not far away from where the trio were stood.

"What?" Tatsuki asked.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"I want to know now, so _spill_," she demanded. Ichigo knew better than to refuse her, so he told her.

"A bunch of guys over there were trying to chat up my sisters," he said irritably, frowning.

"And?"

"I punched the lights out of them, of course," he answered. "They were all drunk too, the punks,"

"Is that _all_ you ever do, Ichigo?" Rukia piped up, rolling her eyes as she did so. Ichigo looked at her, as though noticing her for the first time, glancing at her up and down quickly before answering.

"And what are _you_ supposed to be, a _fairy_?" he asked, contempt colouring his voice.

"Oh shut up," Rukia replied, wounded. She _knew_ that she'd look stupid in a dress like this…

"Excuse me," came another voice. The tall figure of Chad came into view, donning a plain checkered shirt and tie, and smart, black trousers.

"Yo, Chad," Ichigo replied. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if I could ask Miss Tatsuki here for a dance," he replied simply and calmly.

"Uh…_me_?" Tatsuki answered, going slightly red. Obviously she didn't get this sort of chance often. "Uh, sure…" she said, her voice trailing off, as Chad led her to the dance floor.

"And there were two," Rukia commented sarcastically. Ichigo was silent for a moment, before he began to speak, tripping over his words slightly.

"Um…well…err…" he began, going red.

"Stop babbling like an idiot and get to the point,"

"Will you let me _finish_?" Ichigo asked, a wicked glimmer in his eyes.

"Whatever..." Rukia grumbled.

"Wanna dance?" he asked, the words coming out in a rush.

"Huh?"

"You heard me…" he said lamely.

"Oh- err…" Rukia began, realising what he had said to her. "Okay…I suppose…" she said slowly, as he began to lead her towards the dance floor.

_Why this all of a sudden?_ Rukia thought quietly, her voice full of humour, as she kicked off her heels. There was _no_ way she'd be able to dance in _those._ Nevertheless, she smiled as Ichigo began to lead her towards the dance floor.

* * *

The song was a slow one, and Rukia felt herself blushing heavily as Ichigo put his hands on her waist; she could feel his cool fingertips making contact with the skin on her back. Obligingly, she put her hands on his shoulders, and the duo began to sway slightly to the music.

_Funny,_ Rukia began to think. _He never shuts up, and all of a sudden…_

Ichigo was completely silent, focusing on getting the moves right-which wasn't very hard, seeing as they were slow-dancing, so all he had to do was focus on not standing on Rukia's feet. He looked at her, taking in her appearance properly for the first time.

Rukia felt slightly awkward dancing with a man she claimed to have hated- and argued with on numerous occasions- but she still felt strangely content and calm. It was rather peaceful, dancing like this, especially after the blast she'd had earlier rocking down with the other girls. She just needed a bit of a breather.

The first thing he noticed were the unnaturally blue eyes, glimmering even more in the pulsating lights. Her pink lips were curved up into the hint of a smile, and she looked genuinely happy- just for a change.

Rukia noticed that the frown was absent- and for a moment, Ichigo almost looked innocent, or just ordinary. His amber eyes were probing, as though he was trying to figure out what she was thinking-which she hoped he wasn't, because he wouldn't find the realm within her mind very pleasant. The song eventually ended, and they let go of each other rather quickly, determinedly looking away from each other.

"Well…thanks for the dance," Rukia said, smiling a little.

"No problem," he answered simply. "Um…Rukia?" he called out to her, as she began to leav

"Yeah?" she spoke, as she turned back around.

"You actually look…pretty great," he finished, blushing again. Rukia could feel herself blushing too as she began to leave, smiling profusely. _Guys._

Which was why neither of them could believe what happened next.

There was a large crash, followed by a heavy shudder, as though a meteor had landed somewhere nearby. Many of the people around began to fall over from the impact of the crash, and Rukia could feel herself tripping over the long hem of her dress, which was now trailing across the ground without the help of her heels, her back arched backwards her arms flailing about, and surely, _surely_ she was going to crash headlong into the stone ground…

A pair of strong, sturdy hands gripped her shoulders from behind her, holding her in place, and stopping her momentarily. She could feel her head making contact against somebody's chest-presumably male, and she began to breathe in and out deeply, still shocked from her near fatal fall. She could hear the deep breathing of a person behind her, who was still holding her shoulders firmly. As she stood up, and at that precise moment, Rukia knew the identity of the man stood behind her. It could only be one person- and she knew, she just _knew_…

The hands slowly let go of her, and Rukia turned around to find herself face-to-face with Ichigo.

* * *

**Okay, full of IchiRuki here ;) I felt it was about time, after dragging it out for so long... and aww, Ichigo helped Rukia up! Isn't that sweet? **

**A large crash, eh? What do you guys think happened here? Leave your guesses in a review ;) and ****I'll try my best to update weekly from now on, and hey, this is where it gets interesting ;D**

**~Tazski**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hello! Finally, an update xD my university schedule's been hectic, so uh, it took me a while. I'll try to update at least once fortnightly, once a week if possible. Thankyou everyone for the reviews/subscriptions :) they mean a lot! Also, the 'contest' still stands- we're at 97 reviews now, 100th reviewer gets a one-shot of the Bleach pairing of their choice and they can decide the themes and stuff. And I'll do my best to write it.**

**I love this chapter so much. So much more than I did when I first wrote it ;)**

**Once again, thankyou, and keep the reviews coming in! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach**

* * *

"Are you okay?" Ichigo asked a rather stunned Rukia, who seemed not to be able to do much more than blink. "Hey, I _asked_ you something," he said rather loudly, prodding her.

"Ow," she muttered, jolting back into her senses and rubbing her shoulder. "That bloody hurt..."

"_Now _she talks," Ichigo said, rather irritably. "Are you okay?" he asked once more, unnerving Rukia slightly. _Why was he being so nice all of a sudden?_ For a second, Rukia thought a hint of genuine concern flitted across his face, before returning to its usual scowl.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." she replied shakily, before coughing slightly. _What the hell was going on here?_

Dust particles were beginning to swarm around the remaining guests; making it harder for Rukia to see anything, and making the twinkling lights seem dimmer by comparison. She felt as though she was hallucinating; trapped in an illusion; and she found herself fervently wishing that this was all a dream and she'd wake up anytime soon. But no; she was trapped within a nightmare.

"What's going on here?" Rukia asked, now slightly worried.

"I don't know...but by the look of things, I think we had a couple of nasty gatecrashers wrecking a lot of stuff," Ichigo answered, looking away from her.

"You _think_?"

"Just be quiet for a minute!" he snapped.

Rukia fell silent at the sudden venom in his voice; recoiling slightly. What unnerved her was not the anger in his voice, but the fact that it was as shaky as hers by now, and that it unmistakably contained worry. She followed Ichigo's gaze to some point in the distance, and as the dust particles parted slightly, she gasped.

In the distance, she could see what had been immaculate decorating now looking like a large pile of rubble. A group of people had obviously wrecked everything there had been here, and shown no mercy. However, Rukia didn't have to look far for the culprits. Near the fountain, she could see a group of hooded people- men, by the looks of it- that seemed to be harassing any party stragglers.

She watched in horror as one of the men held a long knife against a middle-aged woman, whilst another grabbed hold of a teenager with dark hair who didn't look much older than her, before clamping a gloved hand over her mouth, her arms flailing about. A third man seemed to look into the teenagers face, as though inspecting her, before saying something in a low voice, causing both of his companions to drop their hostages and walk away. A fourth man was stood idly nearby, he turned around as if to look at something, before catching Rukia's eye, his blue eyes piercing through her gaze-

She instinctively felt her waist being jerked backwards, a damp hand clamped over her mouth, dousing her sudden urge to scream. She felt herself being yanked against a wall, her head hitting it gently but nevertheless resulting in a whimper of pain.

"He could've _seen _you," an all-too-familiar voice hissed at her.

"Or she," Rukia attempted to interject, but as a hand was already on her mouth, it sounded more like "Mmmph!"

He let go of Rukia, breathing heavily. Ichigo wiped the sweat from his brow, before slumping against the wall next to where she was still stood, glaring daggers at him.

"What in the _name_ of-"

"Keep your voice down!"

"What... what do you think you're _doing_?" Rukia whispered furiously, jabbing a finger at Ichigo, whilst rubbing her head where she'd been hit.

_Who the hell does she think she is?_ Ichigo thought, angry at her response.

Rukia remained silent, knowing he was right- a thought that had her seething inside. However, she could still feel tears welling up in her eyes- whatever was going on out there was gruesome and terrifying- and here she was, taking orders from an orange-haired punk and doing nothing. It made her extremely mad to the point where she was brimming with rage- but just as sad, too. She also knew that antagonizing Ichigo any further wouldn't be the wisest decision on her part.

"Ichigo..." Rukia began, her voice firmer. "We _have_ to do something... we can't just-"

"Do you know how dangerous it is out there?" Ichigo cut in, his voice brusque.

"Actually no," Rukia responded, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. Ichigo glared at her.

"What, so you're just going to let those guys get to you?" he asked, his voice rising.

Rukia shook her head disdainfully. "You know what? You're a _coward,_ Kurosaki Ichigo. I don't even know _why _I bother _talking_ to you-"

"Shut up!" he hissed, pinning her against the wall, his body now touching hers. Rukia's fistsclenched in anger as her eyes burned fiercely, despite the darkness. How_ dare_ he try to touch her like that? _How dare he?_

Just then, a beam of light swept past them, narrowly avoiding Ichigo, who still had Rukia pinned. It was lucky that the stretch of wall adjacent to where she was held was jutting out enough to cover her, so she was completely obscured. A tinge of emotion jolted her senses-guilt- as she realised that Ichigo hadn't been trying to hurt her at all, but rather, protect her. Rukia felt even guiltier realising that Ichigo had effectively saved her life twice tonight, and all she'd done was call him a coward. Preposterous.

"Ichigo...I-"

"Leave it," he said, letting go of her. He knew what she wanted to say, and didn't need to hear it- they had more important things to do tonight.

"You know," Rukia began, a wry smile on her face. "Next time, you should just let me take the cover,"

"And why's that?"

"Well... with that orange hair of yours flashing like a light bulb, you'd be noticeable anywhere, no offence," she said, hiding a grin.

"Ichigo sighed theatrically. "Of _all_ the things..." he muttered, as Rukia smirked. Her face fell almost instantly, as she contemplated the earlier events.

"Where do you think the others are?" she asked, noticing their absence for the first time. Well, it had been hard to think of much else given the situation.

"I don't know..." Ichigo murmured, thoughtful.

"We should find then," Rukia said, her voice commanding.

Ichigo had to think for a moment. He'd been trying to protect her, and now she wanted to run off? Who knew what would happen? But then again, he had to make sure everyone else was okay too, and he was pretty sure Rukia could take care of herself.

"Yeah." _He finally answered. I hope Yuzu and Karin are okay..."_ he thought, concerned for the safety of his sisters.

"I suggest we split up," Rukia offered. "Find whoever we can and take them back to my house." Ichigo looked at her as if she was crazy.

"_Your _house? But-"

"Whoever or whatever these guys are looking for," Rukia said, her tone sharp, "The _first_ place they're going to look is the manor,"

Ichigo didn't have an answer to that, so he agreed- for the time being.

"Okay... so whoever we find, we send them to your house?" he asked.

"That's the plan," she replied. "Tatsuki, Orihime, Ishida, Chad, your sisters..." she murmured, counting on her fingers. Ichigo watched her without really listening. He couldn't help but feel grateful that Rukia was keeping a fairly cool head at a time like this, concerned about everyone's safety, whereas... well, he'd put her down as a selfish brat. And he could see that she was anything but- a notion that made him feel guiltier than ever. However, he didn't have time to ponder this, as Rukia's voice cut into his thoughts.

"I'll go that way," Rukia gestured behind her. "And you go _that _way," she commanded, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Sounds fair to me," Ichigo said, agreeing. "And Rukia... try not to die, would you?" he smirked a little. "I don't want that on my conscience,"

Rukia shook her head in contempt as she answered. "Try not to get too beat up, okay?"

"Sure, whatever," he scowled, before turning around to leave.

"Bye" Rukia whispered. She had to find the others as soon as possible, and get to the bottom of what was going on.

* * *

She ran through the obscuring dust as fast as her legs would carry her, but she had no luck in finding the others. The heat had become unbearable to the point where Rukia was wiping the sweat off her brow more often than not.

_Crap... where the hell is everyone?_

She grounded to a sudden halt after skidding on some spilt alcohol, pausing to catch her breath. She winced slightly as she felt a tiny piece of glass piercing the bottom of her foot, but she paid no attention to it. Suddenly, as if it had materialised right beside her, a voice shouted through the mist, unmistakably male;

"There she is, that Kuchiki girl! GET HER!"

What happened next was so vivid, fast-paced and realistic that it felt like some sort of horrid nightmare; the sort where every fibre of your being at screaming at you to run, yet your legs feel like blocks of lead. Nevertheless, Rukia picked up the courage to run away as fast as she could, but not before she caught sight of the insignia on the lapels of one man's jacket. A five-point pentacle, with the inscription of the letters 'VR' in minuscule, cursive writing.

A million things clicked into place, bombarding her.

First fo all, Rukia knew that 'VR' must have stood for 'Vandenreich'. But secondly and most disturbingly... she had seen that insignia before, just once. On the men who had killed her mother, 10 years ago. Back then, she'd been a little short-sighted and couldn't really make out the pentacle, and the letters 'VR' had just been a little smudge to her. At the time, she'd mistaken the pentacle to belong to the Ishida clan, but the fact that it actually belonged to the Vandenreich...

It meant that the Vandenreich had been the ones to kill not just her mother, but her entire family too. If there was one thing she was sure of though, is that the Vandenreich must have been working for a larger organisation of some sort, or such mass murder wouldn't have been condoned. Someone was pulling the strings from behind. As she stopped to think, she realised that there were only two groups of people who could have orchestrated this situation from the start. One was the Kurosaki clan. The other was the Ishida clan. If it hadn't been for this situation, she might have believed that the Kurosakis had been behind the whole thing. But Ichigo's father had disappeared many years ago, and as far as she knew, Ichigo didn't really have much authority of his own, since he was technically underage. Someone was trying to harm her _now,_ and she highly doubted it was Ichigo.

Therefore, that left only one option. And Rukia had a funny feeling that she knew who it was.

Someone who had authority... someone well respected...

Would the Ishida clan go as far as harming her, or worse, her family? Was it possible that they knew that Nii-sama was working undercover for both them, and effectively, Aizen? As the thought came to her, her eyes widened in shock. Her Nee-sama had basically told her that Aizen worked for the Vandenreich. Aizen, the most hardened, merciless criminal of his generation. Was it possible that he'd had a hand in the murders too?

Most importantly, why? Why did these people want to harm her, and her family?

Her mind clouded with thoughts, Rukia moved as if to step away from the side wall, only to flatten herself against it once more as another voice, ostensibly male materialized, tantalisingly close.

"He should be here somewhere," the throaty voice was muttering. "Amber eyes, bright orange hair, that stupid scowl, shouldn't be too hard to miss,"

Rukia froze in shock as she realised what the man was talking about. Hardly daring to breathe, she inched closer, listening in.

"I told you, Van Dertschmann, he ain't here!" another man roared. "Why don't we get out of this goddamned forsaken-"

"What the _hell,_ Kenpachi?" the man named Van Dertschmann retorted with a growl of his own. "You know, ever since you returned from exile, you've been oddly-"

"Boss told us _not_ to use our names-" Kenpachi began, before he was cut off by a stern growl.

"And stop calling me Van Dertschmann, I hate that freaking name..." he answered. "Let's just find Kurosaki Ichigo and that Kuchiki girl and get outta here, ey? Lucky her husband works for us-"

"He's not supposed to know," Kenpachi growled. "That the Kuchiki girl is-"

"Hey, keep your voice down!" the man implored. "Let's... let's just get out of here, shall we? Boss'll have our necks if we don't hurry the fuck up,"

"Whetever," Kenpachi grumbled, before following the departing man.

Rukia let out a huge sigh of relief, her heart racing. Nee-sama? Why did they want Nee-sama and Ichigo?

It made sense that Ichigo was being chased. After all, he was a wealthy heir with some ungodly amount of money, so numerous people would want him for that reason. But why Nee-sama? She didn't have money, or power. She was just a small-time baker, earning her living from baking. All Rukia could think of was the events from 10 years ago- they must've held some sort of clue, or the other. However, there was no time to think of that. She had to find Ichigo. _Now._

She crept up from where she was hiding, inspecting the dust before it parted willingly once more to give her a clearer view. Empty. Rukia began to run, her evening gown splitting up the side, but she was much too engaged in the situation to even notice. Who cared about clothes at a time like this?

To her dismay, she didn't find anyone. As a church bell tolled in the distance, she couldn't help but worry frantically, running her hands through her hair. What she didn't notice an outstretched hand, reaching towards her...

Something tapped her shoulder. Rukia jumped at the touch, recoiling as though an electric shock was coursing through her. She spun around, fearing the worst, before deflating at the sight of the person stood in front of her.

"Ichigo, did you-" he cut her off, before she could answer. "I found everyone."

"You _did?"_ Rukia answered, her voice slightly hysterical, as the duo began to walk together, cautiously.

"Yeah, and- _what the heck happened to you_?" he asked, his tone disbelieving.

"Uh... nothing..." Rukia mumbled self-consciously, realising for the first time how stupid she looked.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Ichigo raised an eyebrow, taking in Rukia's rather dishevelled appearance, her soiled and torn dress, her hair now coming loose in waves.

And those unnaturally bright eyes.

Ichigo shook his head to free it of the thought, glancing down at his own attire. He was looking worse for wear himself too. But clothing was the least of anyone's worries right now.

"So, where is everyone?" Rukia asked, ignoring Ichigo's remark. "Did you find out what's going on?"

"I didn't find out much," he admitted. "But Tatsuki and Orihime have taken Karin and Yuzu and gone to Chad's house in Naruki village. And, well..."

"Well, what?" Rukia prompted.

"They're after your sister,"

"I know," she said miserably. "They mistook me for Nee-sama because we look so alike, I think. But it's her they're definitely after,"

"I see."

"Ichigo, I have to go find her."

"You're not going anywhere," he said stubbornly, frowning again.

"_Why?"_ she demanded.

"They think you're Hisana, right? Then you're in just as much danger, if not more. They might harm you even more if they find out who you really are,"

"But-"

"No." His tone was so definite that she couldn't argue. "Your sister should be okay, she's with Byakuya, isn't she?"

"Yes," Rukia muttered. "But what am I going to _do?_"

"Ishida's going to take you up to my room," he answered.

"Why?"

"Will you stop asking questions and listen to me for a minute?" he asked, a faint smile on his face.

"Whatever," she answered, rolling her eyes.

"And, nobody will suspect you if you stay there for a while. I have a strange feeling that the Vandenreich shouldn't find out there's two of you. In the meanwhile, I'm going to see if I can find out some more. Urahara said he wanted to speak to me."

"You don't say," she murmured. "But isn't your room the first place the Vandenreich will look?" Rukia interjected.

"Was," Ichigo replied, and Rukia could've sworn he was smiling once more. "They already searched there. And..." he paused, grinning once more. "I take it you know how to climb a tree?" They were at the base of the said tree by now, its shadows encasing the two in complete darkness.

"Well... try not to get yourself killed, will you?" Rukia said, a trace of humour in her voice.

"That's the second time tonight..."

"Let's just hope it isn't the last, huh?" she said rather lightly.

Ichigo smiled a little. "Yeah," he replied. And with that, Rukia slowly began to climb the tree.

* * *

She eventually reached the top, panting slightly, and dusted her dress, not that it really mattered.

"Quick, get inside," a hushed voice came. Ishida. The tall boy came into view, wearing the traditional Quincy garb, and ushered Rukia in, before telling her that it was 3am and he'd be back at 5. That gave her two hours to get some rest.

She glanced around the darkened room, which was pretty much as it always- clean. Thanks to her. It seemed to be a haven of tidiness and orderliness amidst the destruction and chaos outside. Just then, a ray of light caught her eye. Rukia turned to see the cupboard slightly ajar, and the positioning of the moon casting light over an object inside, which seemed to be emitting a bluish, ethereal glow. Even from a distance, she could see it was the diary, which lay open. Ichigo's diary.

_He must've forgotten to lock it again, _she thought, before picking it up. She could feel herself getting nervous as she held it, wondering if she was doing the right thing. _Is this morally correct?_

_Screw morals and buckle up,_ she chastised herself. She had to do what was right, after all, and Ichigo wouldn't be back before dawn, probably. She glanced at the elegant clock on the wall, which now read 3.10am. Just under two hours. Perfect. Plopping herself onto the four poster bed, Rukia opened the diary and began to read.

* * *

**It's getting SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO exciting! :D RUKIA'S GONNA FINALLY READ THE DIARY! (in the next chapter) so, YOU tell me, why do you think the Vandenreich want Hisana? O_O If anyone can guess the general plot of the story, (or what might happen later) I'll write an IchiRuki story just for you. Seriously. I'm only keeping this contest open till I get to a certain point, because it'll be obvious one day! I honestly don't think anyone'll get it just yet though XD**

**So you know the drill: Guess the plot, and you get an IchiRuki story dedicated to you!**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: OMG, I am so excited. I love writing this story :D okay, first things first, the winners of the review contest! Actually, we have two winners ;) since the first winner won by multiple reviewing, so I thought it would only be fair to give the next reviewer a prize too. So purplepam and WhiteSheWolf17 PM/review me with which Bleach pairing you want a one-shot of, and what you want the story to be about. And I'll do my best to write it ASAP :]**

**Also, the contest I mentioned last time- I won't make you guys guess the plot, that's too hard. So here's my latest contest- the first person to correctly guess the situation with Hisana and why the Vandenreich want her will get a IchiRuki story dedicated to them. Seriously ;D**

**Thankyou to everyone who subscribed/reviewed the last chapter, and a special thankyou to Glon Morski for her wonderful reviews, as always :] keep the reviews coming in!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. *spoiler below***

**RIP Genryuusai Shigekunio Yamamoto**

* * *

The inner cover of the diary- which was a luxurious, creamy beige colour had a fading, yellowed parchment attached to it, followed by pages of crisp, creamy pages with an untidy black scrawl splashed over them. Gingerly detaching the note from the metal corner in which it was tucked in, Rukia squinted slightly in the partial darkness before reading it.

'Dearest Ichigo,' it began, the writing legible and tidy. 'I know you find it difficult to say what you feel out loud, even to me. But it's never good to keep things to yourself, no matter what it is- which is why I'm giving you this diary, in the hope that you will treat it as a friend, and express those feelings that cannot be said out loud.

Mom.'

Intrigued, Rukia put the note back where it was, and turned her attention to the first page, which was donned by Ichigo's untidy, spidery handwriting.

_**December 16**__**th**__**, 7pm**_

_**I heard something weird today. I think Daddy mentioned the Kuchiki family… you know, the one that lives at the other end of town. He said they'd all been killed or something. Poor souls. That reminded me… I heard someone talking yesterday. One of the voices seemed familiar, but I couldn't see his face… the other on had these white robes which had this funny pentagon on it and this writing… it said 'FR'… no, 'VR'… no, WR. I dunno. I think maybe they were playing a game, since they were laughing… one of them definitely said 'get rid of him, he's a liability' and another said 'no he'll be useful to us' or something. I don't know but it sounded pretty odd. There was talk of eavesdropping and midnight visits and stuff but it confused me too much so I left. **_

The entries for the next few months seemed pretty ordinary (mainly fights that he'd picked with Ishida and karate classes with Tatsuki) but it wasn't till she reached an entry dated June 14th the following year that some sort of pattern began to emerge.

_**June 14**__**th**__**, 6pm**_

_**Stupid Tatsuki. She beat me in karate again! I can't stand her! I know she cheated. Yoruichi-san wouldn't believe me though. Mommy said I should train harder. But how can I when Tatsuki keeps cheating? GRRRR!**_

Rukia felt slightly taken aback by the sudden change in his tone, but she couldn't help but smile a little. _Idiot._ She turned the page over to read the next few entries, and her eyes began to widen as she took in the information.

_**June 16**__**th**__**, 7pm**_

_**Tatsuki beat me in karate again! AAARRRGH! Why does she keep doing this to me! Mommy thinks I'm being silly, hiding from her in my muddy clothes. It's not my fault that the stupid carriage splashed water on me. I think maybe-**_

_**Wait, I hear something. One minute.**_

_**Ok, back. Well it's late now and I should go to sleep or Mommy will be sad, but… I heard something from a nearby room. I didn't know what was going on and was gonna leave, but I heard Mommy talking to someone. I think she was crying… I don't like it when Mommy cries. It makes me sad too. So I listened. This is what she was saying…**_

At this point, Rukia could almost see the scene play out, as if she was stood beside the door, listening…

_Masaki stood inside the small, circular room, her willowy hair slightly wild and unkempt, tear tracks etched into her normally kind face._

"_Just because I'm your younger sister, it doesn't mean I have to agree with everything you say or do!"_

"_Move out of the way, Masaki," came a tired voice, and despite the calmness, carried a powerful hint of authority._

"_If you think I'm going to let you lay a hand on my family, you've got another thought coming!"_

"_Who said I was going to do that?" At this point, the voice sounded genuinely surprised._

"_Don't think for one moment that I don't know what you're up to, Nii-sama…"_

"_Up to what, Masaki?"_

"_You know perfectly well what I'm talking about! How dare you try and drag my husband into this? My children need their father and I'm not about to let you and your little 'group' put their lives into jeopardy with your stupid schemes!"_

"_I was simply trying to, ah… reconcile with Isshin,"_

"_Reconcile? By using that hooligan Aizen to threaten my husband? What for?" she shouted back._

"_Masaki, I don't have time for your nonsensical rants. I have business to attend to."_

At this point, the entry ended, with Ichigo hastily scribbling that he'd left the scene just as the figure had been about to come out of the room, to avoid being caught. Funnily enough, a lot of things were beginning to click for her- and she had a nagging suspicion that she knew who the guy in the room with Masaki had been. Nevertheless, she continued to read.

_**June 19**__**th**__**, 6pm**_

_**Why? Why does it have to be me? Mommy, why didn't you let me go instead? It's my fault this happened to you. Mine. **_

_**2 days ago, me and Mommy went out…**_

Again, at this point, Rukia closed her eyes slightly as she read, allowing the image of the scene ahead unfold before her…

_It was raining heavily, and Ichigo could feel himself getting soaked as his mom lead him into the carriage bound for home._

"_Sweetie, are you cold?" Masaki asked, putting her arm around her shivering 9-year old son. _

"_I-I'm fine, Mommy," he whispered, teeth chattering loudly. _

"_We'll be home soon," she assured him with her warmest smile. Despite the freezing cold, Ichigo began to smile too. _

_The carriage began to move, but within seconds Masaki was aware that something was wrong. The carriage was going way too fast. She'd been riding in carriages all her life, and she could tell that this one, even in the rain, shouldn't have been wobbling quite so badly. She was thrown against the wooden frame, hitting her head slightly, her son still in her grasp._

"_Mommy, can you tell the driver to slow down?" Ichigo shouted above the loud pattering of the rain, as if reading her mind, as the grey scenery flashed by in a blur. "My head really hurts,"_

"_Sure, honey," she answered, her voice wary and alert, yet calm. She leaned forward slightly, her hands still around her son._

"_Hey driver," Masaki called out. "Could you slow down-"_

"_Can't!" the driver yelled. "It's the rain! We're losing control! There's a cliff coming up ahead!"_

"_Losing control? What do you mean, losing control?"__she asked in her calmest voice. Even then, Masaki had been known well for her calm demeanour in the face of adversity. She never panicked, and she didn't this time either. "Driver? Hello?" she leant forward once more, only to find the driver's seat empty. He was gone._

_Masaki gasped, slumping against her seat as the full implications of the situation hit her. It was raining heavily and she was in a carriage spiraling out of control with no driver, and a cliff edge dead ahead. If she didn't do something soon, both she and her son would die._

_The carriage lurched alarmingly to one side as the horses attempted to swerve to avoid the cliff, but to no avail. As it approached the cliff, wildly out of control, Masaki's instincts kicked in. She threw the door open, and with her son tucked safely within her arms, she jumped out into the torrential downpour. Both mother and son tumbled rapidly down a sloping, rocky peath leading off the main path and came to a rest against something solid. Or that was what it felt like to Ichigo, atleast. He untangled himself from his mother's arms, letting out a wobbly gasp as he saw that her back had been impaled by the jutting spike on a large boulder, her neck twisted at an odd angle as it had been broken. Blood trickled down from the back of her neck where the boulder had left a large gash, the remaining droplets of blood staining the rock itself. Masaki looked at her son with some sort of yearning, some longing, before letting out a rattling gasp and going limp. _

_Ichigo could feel his breath catch in the back of his throat as he fought the rising bile, as he knelt beside his mother, his eyes brimming with tears. He saw that the life had gone out of her eyes, that they were just two glassy orbs now with nothing inside._

"_Mommy," he whispered, his amber eyes wide, not wanting to believe the sight. "Why? Why you? Why not me? Mommy, wake up. Please wake up Mommy, please! Mommy, wake up!" he shouted, shaking her shoulders. Her eyes remained as they were, and she did not stir, her form lifeless._

'_It's the rain!' the driver had shouted. 'The rain' Ichigo thought. 'The rain did this. The rain killed Mommy,'_

_As the rain continued to fall in a torrential downpour, drenching both mother and son, Ichigo continued to kneel beside his mother's body and began to weep._

Rukia reeled back from the visceral image, her hands shaking, feeling something wet trickle down her cheeks onto her chest. It was a moment before she realized they were tears. Hastily, she wiped them away.

_No wonder…_ was her first thought. _No wonder he's the way he is… seeing the person he loved most taken away from him like that… it must've killed him inside…_

_I'm sorry… my fault… shouldn't have let it… happen…_

She finally understood fully what Ichigo had been murmuring that night. He had been blaming himself for his mother's death, but also blaming himself for not being able to protect her in the first place. And as someone who had watched her own mother get murdered right before her very eyes, she could sympathise with that.

Shaken, and slightly scared, Rukia continued to read. The rest of the entries didn't particularly seem to be out of the ordinary, and so eventually she reached an entry dated March 18th of this year.

_**March 18**__**th**__**, 12.15am**_

_**Hi there. Erm… what to say? **__**'**__**It's been a while, I know. I've had a lot to do…sorry. Are you mad at me? I know…there's a lot you could blame me for. But I really hope you aren't mad. I went to the bakery to buy my favourite chocolate donuts. I met an idiot there, who tried to be **__**funny**__** with me, so I mocked his stupid pink hair. The punk had it coming, though. Then that stupid Ishida started yelling at me, and of course I had to go with him, otherwise his ass of a father would start yelling at me **__**again.**__** Can you believe that guy? Speaking of Ryuuken Ishida…well, he started on me **__**again. **__**Why the hell does he always have to pick on me for? I bloody well didn't do anything to him…or I don't think I did, anyway. Unless he found out that I spiked Ishida's drink that night. Nobody's actually supposed to know that...**_

_**Mom, I'm sick of this. No, I really am. Ishida's dad always treats me like I'm some sort of big asshole, and he's **__**always**__** having a go at me. Like it's my fault I have orange hair, or something. I still don't get that, by the way. If you had brown hair, and dad had black hair, then how come I have orange hair? I mean even Karin and Yuzu got their hair off you guys. This is seriously fucked up. Ehm…excuse my language, Mom. I suppose you'd tell me off for that.**_

_**So yeah, just as I thought my day couldn't get any worse, that midget shows up. You know, the Kuchiki girl? And then **__**she**__** starts having a go at me, like she's some sort of high and mighty. But…and this is the weird thing, she's the only one who turned up for the cleaning job. I mean last time, there were about a hundred girls trying to murder each other for the job. Weird, huh?**_

_**Now I can't sleep. I'm freaking tired, though. So…I guess I'll go now. Hope you're okay up there.**_

_**Ichigo.**_

_That Kuchiki girl? Midget?_ The blooming cheek! But then again, that was _before_ they had become… friends. Or something of the sort. Her attention was drawn to the latest entry, which was dated just over a week ago.

_**Saturday, May 5, 1.45am**_

_**Hi, it's me. Well, obviously… and I guess you can tell that I'm not really tired. Well, I am, but… it's a long story. Mainly involving trees. Actually, Chad didn't show up today, so I guess he forgot, or something. So I was on my way back home, and saw Rukia Kuchiki fall from a tree. My tree. I've no freaking clue what she was doing there at one in the morning, and I don't think she would tell me if I asked. Maybe she liked to go tree-climbing at one in the morning. With her, you can never tell, she's certifiably insane at times. Not to mention irritating as hell. But she's okay, I guess… anyway, I'm feeling kinda confused right now. Something quite strange is going on here. I heard Ryuuken and the Chief Servant talking the other week, and it seems like they were plotting something or the other. Probably against me- who knows? I have a funny feeling that everything's starting to make sense now… everything that happened 10 years ago. I'll probably have to look into it a bit more, but I still get the feeling that I'm missing something big. And important. Well, I thought of asking Rukia, but I'm not entirely sure if I can trust her or not. I have nothing to lose, I guess.**_

_**Ichigo.**_

Rukia finished reading and closed the diary carefully, taking care to return all the odd bits and bobs to where they belonged in the cupboard. She sat down on the edge of the bed once more, utterly exhausted, noticing the clock that now read 4.40am, whilst struggling to process everything she had read in the past hour and a half. Ichigo was deciding whether to trust her or not, keeping a careful eye on her- scarily enough, that was exactly what she herself had been doing along, even if she hadn't realized it. And even scarier, she felt as though… she _wanted_ him to trust her.

But more importantly, it was her perception of Ichigo that disturbed her the most. She felt as though she didn't know the guy at all, despite her efforts. He was quite something else, entirely, that was for sure- and as a reminder, she could feel herself prickling with shame at having made such a huge error in her judgement. For she realized it now- everything she had thought and assumed about Kurosaki Ichigo had been completely and utterly wrong, and of course, she felt like an idiot. She'd also realized, with a twinge that his attitude, behaviour, manners- all were down to the events that had taken place 10 years ago.

'Is it too late to make amends?' Rukia mused silently, wondering what the future held for her. She found it strange that she and Ichigo's fates had seemed almost similar- entwined, even. Yet… Ichigo had no idea what was going on through her mind. And he didn't really need to know either. Things were fine… just as they were.

Rukia's thoughts were interrupted by a resounding _crash_ coming from the direction of the window.

* * *

**I wanted to cry when I wrote this... poor Ichigo. I don't blame him in the slightest T_T and I can't wait to write more. This is getting soooo exciting. Haha**

**And ignore the typos, I'm british so my English is very British, but my computer insisted on correcting some of my words to US English. **

**Keep reviewing ;D**

**Tazski**


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